The Tale of Two Hearts
by lostsouloftheunderworld
Summary: Two siblings. Two very different lives. One war that will ultimatly bring them together or tear them apart forever. One girl who determins the fate of it all.  Two souls. One body. One last chance to make things right... but never has right felt so wrong.
1. Things that go Bang in the Night

**`Tale of Two Hearts**

**By Lost**

**SUMMARY: Two hearts, born of the same flesh and blood, only six years apart. Sequel to Adventure of Middle Earth. Damian has always fought for freedom, but will one decision made of anger and hurt, be the downfall of a world his sister, Katie, fights to protect? For months Damian's anger grew, is it too late for Katie to right her wrongs? Too late to rejoin the family she lost? Will Katie be able to make peace with her brother and save the world she holds dear? Or will Damian be blinded by his anger, and wipe out all in his path?**

**Disclaimer: Lost doesn't own LotR or its characters. She also doesn't own Faelwen, Jess or Tywein, her friends are claiming them. Lost owns none of the Greek Gods, she just borrowed their names! She also doesn't own the All American Rejects or their song Gives you Hell. Is there anything I forgot? Oh yeah, Katie does not use medical methods, because Lost has no wish to study medicine, she faints at the sight of blood! So do NOT-not that any of you intelligent people would, but I have to cater for everybody- use any methods Katie uses! **

**(IMPORTANT! Please read! Luv ya'll, Lost!)**

**A/N Ok, for ya'll, just a quick little note so you get the idea of what's happening and I don't get a million emails asking me to explain! First of all, a big thanks to all you lovely people who stuck with me up to this point and I'll try hard not to disappoint you! Ok, back to the point: My story is set back in the present day (2010, only 5 months after Katie was reported missing) and Middle earth is the past. (5 thousand years ago)I have also fit Middle Earth into, well mainly Australia but other parts of the world as well. So my geography is well and truly out! Sorry, but had to move things around a bit to make it work! We all good? Ok, on with the story!**

Chapter 1- Dreams and Things that go bang in the Night- Katie's POV:

I knew it was a dream from the very first minute. It had a misty, other-world feel. I could see the borders of Mirkwood from the hill on which I stood, the one that was now close to a city of Men. Below me, a grassy clearing separated the edge of the forest from a rough, dirt road. From both sides came a tremendous thumping that gave me an instant headache. From the forests emerged an army, clad in Mithril. There were Dwarves, Hobbits and Elves, all marching out together. They were met by an army of Men, carrying swords and bows where guns should have been. They were still dressed in their normal camouflage uniforms and bullet proof vests. That's when it started to get really weird! From the side of the Elves, I saw myself step forward, ready to bark orders. From the other side came a figure I knew all too well. He had changed a lot, but our souls would recognise each other anywhere. Damian. The air hung with an awkward silence that seemed to last an eternity.

"I wake up every evening," My voice rang out in a song I had not sung for five thousand years. "With a big smile on my face and it never feels out of place. And you're still probably working at a nine to five pace. I wonder how bad that tastes." Damian joined in, countering my sing-song attack.

"When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hopes it gives hell." As I sung this line, the Ents began to stir, the whole forest quickly coming to life.

"Now where's your picket fence love? And where's that shiny car?"

"And did it ever get you far?"

"You never seemed so tense love; I've never seen you fall so hard. Do you know where you are?" Damian cocked his head sadly at the forest before his face broke into an evil little smile. "And truth be told, I miss you. And truth be told, I'm lying! When you see my fave hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"If you find a man that's worth the damn and treats you well, then he's a fool, you're just as well. Hope it gives you hell." Legolas raised an eyebrow, still amused despite the insult. Damian gave him the finger. We both sang the next verse in perfect harmony, despite our lack of ability. Don't you just love dreams?

"Tomorrow you'll be thinking to yourself 'yeah, where did it all go wrong?' But the list goes on and on." I smiled slightly, trying not to give too much away and copied Damian's earlier line.

"And truth be told, I miss you. And truth be told, I'm lying!"

"When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"If you find a man that's worth the damn that treats you well, the he's a fool, you're just as well. Hope it gives you hell." Then we sung in harmony again.

"Now you'll never see what you've done to me. You can take back your memories; they're no good to me. Here's all your lies. You can look me in the eyes…"

"With that sad, sad look that you wear so well!" Damian raised an eyebrow. He still wasn't used to me insulting him and meaning it. Then the armies took up the chorus. First Damian's, then mine, then Damian's again.

"When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"When you find a man that's worth the damn and treats you well, then he's a fool, you're just as well. Hope it gives you hell." Damian's voice rang loud and clear, leading the next assault himself.

"When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell."

"When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell." Then we both sang together:

"When you hear this song and you sing along, though you'll never tell. Then you're the fool, I'm just as well. Hope it gives you hell. When you hear this song I hope that it will give you hell. You can sing along, I hope that it puts you through hell." With that, battle broke out below me, the air filled with screams of pain and the stench of blood.

_Meanwhile…_

Jess' POV:

It was about midnight by the time my red Honda Jazz pulled into the driveway. It had broken down on the way from work. That was odd, I was sure I hadn't left the lights on. Maybe Damian had 'forgotten' to turn them off on his way out. Ever since he'd come back…he'd been different to say the least. He moved in with me, got a good paying job and things were going great. That was until he got fired for beating up his boss. The guy had seven broken ribs, a broken nose and a fractured skull, and Damian was un-armed! His buddy in the FBI had simply whipped his file clean. It seemed wrong to me, but apparently my say didn't count. After that he hadn't been bothered to get another job, instead living off my income. I didn't make that much, and all I did make seemed to disappear and a new bottle of alcohol would appear in the cupboard, disappearing three days later. On top of that, he was overly paranoid. He'd rush about the house muttering about extra security and slept with his hand gun under his pillow. For months I'd been more like a slave than anything else and I couldn't take anymore. This morning I told him he had till I got home from work to be out of here, with everything he could carry. If he left something behind, I'd send it to him and he was to leave his key in the bowl by the door. Was he really gone? I opened the door, throwing my keys in the bowl. I could hear the football match blaring from the lounge room. Had he left the T.V on too? The floor boards creaked and Damian stumbled into the hallway. He hadn't left, and worse: He'd been drinking, the rum bottle, still half full in his hand.

"Damian, what the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to get out!" Damian laughed.

"And I said 'Hell no'!" I balled my tiny fists at my sides. I could feel my ring, which was the only thing I had of my mother's, cutting into my leg. My mother had left Dad and me when I was only twelve years old. Dad said she had no choice, that she wanted to stay, but couldn't. But I didn't believe him. Love is blind; just look at me and Damian, only an idiot would have put up with him for this long.

"That's it! I'm calling the cops!" I turned and reached for the phone by the door. I felt Damian's fingers dig into my left shoulder, and I could almost swear I heard the bone crack. But I didn't have much time to worry about that pain. Damian brought his fist; rum bottle included smashing into the right side of my face. I was knocked to the floor as the white hot pain seared through me and scarlet drops began to form pools and rivers down my white work shirt. I gasped. He'd seriously hit me! I was roughly reefed from the ground by my left wrist. My feet dangled uselessly against the blood stained floor boards. Damian's fingers squeezed, slowly, and might I add painfully, smashing what felt like every bone in my wrist. I screamed, gasping at the pain now shooting through my wrist and my face. Damian dropped me roughly on the floor, heading for the bedroom. I knew what he kept there. The images of his slim, sleek and silent gun flashed through my mind. I scrabbled across the floor, ignoring the glass that scratched and pulled at my skin. I threw the front door open, stumbled down the stairs and ran down the street. I heard an explosion as a bullet flew past me, crashing the Amin's house. I stubbled. Damn the dress code! I ditched my high heels and felt the wind rush through my blonde hair as I gained speed. Dad had always said I was born to run. Damian was drunk. There was no way he could keep up with me, at least no on foot. Ahead of me, I saw my aim, though I don't know why it was. I had covered quite good ground. I was already at the old forest. I would lose Damian as soon as I was through the trees. There was a small tug in my mind, warning me not to enter. This forest felt evil. I know it's a weird thing to say, but there was something about it that screamed danger. I could almost imagine a shadow stalking towards me. It was almost as if this place were made to mess with your mind. It was odd. I stood before the wall of twisted trees, unsure what to do. I heard the sound of a string being pulled tight, the tension almost visible in the air. My head snapped to the sound. I could hear a gasp. I wasn't imagining things. There was someone in the trees! But…But, no one came here! No one but the bravest of the brave and the…hunters! It was rumoured all thought town that this forest was the sight of a great battle, and the ghosts of the people that had died there still lingered, killing all who dared enter. The trees groaned and creaked eerily in a non-existent breeze. But I had bigger problems to worry about than hunter and ghosts. The headlights of my red Honda Jazz came over the hill. I could see Damian's face set in a hard, no trace of emotion to be seen. Upon seeing me, a determined glint filled his eyes. The car spun towards me, forcing me further back into the clearing. There was now only a metre between myself and safety, but it was a metre too far. I felt the pain from the bullet long before I felt the pain from the noise. Maybe it had just shattered my ear drums, or permanently deafened me. I fell face forward to the ground, watching my blood pool around me. So this is how I would die. Alone, in a forest by the hands of one I had once though I loved with a bullet in my back. Peachy ain't it? With that final thou ght, I sunk into the black waters of death.

Elladan's POV:

Remind me to disembowel Katie! It was my first night visiting in Mirkwood for a few months and the first thing she made me do was night watch duty! While she sat there drinking! I don't get why we needed to have constant patrol, her compulsion seemed to do a pretty good job! With Galadriel's help, Katie had put a ring of her will around Mirkwood. Any unwanted guests would feel the urge to wet themselves and run crying home to Mummy! Katie liked it that way. Apparently it made the long winter evenings just fly! I had never been more bored in all my long years. I was sitting on an Ent, Treebeard I think, in the shadows, counting the minutes until dawn. Only three-hundred and fifteen minutes left! Things were looking better already! I heard the sound of heavy breathing, and the patter of soft, bare feet hitting hard, worn earth. Through the trees, I saw a girl who would only come to about halfway up my chest, with golden curls streaming behind her. She seemed to be heading for the trees, hiding. I remembered Katie's instructions

"_If anyone enters the forest, shoot them, but don't kill. We'll heal 'em up, erase their memory and put 'em back" _

It really wasn't that bad. But could I really bring myself to shoot a woman, running alone, afraid and defenceless? Without noticing it I had already drawn back my bow string, ready to fight whatever danger approached. The girls' head snapped towards me, listening intently. I saw now, she wasn't a girl, but a woman. Probably…21 with big blue eyes and a kind face. I gasped. She was injured. The right side of her face was a flowing river of red blood which was soaking into her once white shirt. Her left wrist was swollen almost beyond recognition and a sickly blue-black colour. She was staring at me, while not staring at me. She looked straight through me, but she knew I was there, and she thought she was my target! A great humming filled the air, like an annoying bee buzzing in my ear, growing louder with every passing second. The woman heard it too. Her face was a mixture of pain and defeat. Two bright lights came over the hill and a red metal box took aim at her. For a moment I could do nothing, just stand and watch. The girl launched herself towards the forest, narrowly avoiding been hit. A man lent out of the side, a black box in his hand. A deafening bang shook the forest, immobilising me for another few seconds. The woman, who had been sprinting for the trees, now lay sprawled in a pool of her own blood. The man was obviously drunk, his eyes were glazed over and I could smell his stench form here. All the better for me. My arrow flew straight through both of his windows, the smash causing him to jump and scream, well, it was more of a sequel. The man sped away, and as say Katie would say 'He was scared shitless!' I rushed to the side of the tiny figure, who was small even for a human. Katie was only just taller than most humans, and this girl would only come to Katie's shoulder! The girl wasn't dead…yet, but it wouldn't be long, she was sickly pail and weak from blood loss. I carefully took her into my arms, wincing as she screamed in pain.

"Shhh" I soothed as best I could. She relaxed a little at the sound of my voice; probably just relived she wasn't dead. "I'm going to help you, just hang in there!" I took off through the forest at a sprint, ignoring the branches that tugged at my clothes and hair. Only later would the strange facts of the scene in the blood-soaked clearing return to me, and I would realise that there was more to this tiny, broken girl than I first guessed.

Katie's POV:

I sat bolt upright in bed, my face sweaty and tearstained. Legolas was leaning over me, just as well my reflexes were slow, otherwise Legolas would have landed himself in the infirmary!

"Another nightmare?" I'd been having them all week! They ranged from truly terrifying, like the one where I was being tortured, to just plain odd, like the one I had just had. I nodded, my throat felt too raw to speak. "You were screaming." Legolas brushed the hair that was plastered to my forehead away. I didn't want to tell him what I'd seen. It was too horrid, and I'd seen battle at its worst! What scared me more was the fact that Ada, who was currently visiting with Fae, Hal and my brothers, had been watching me with sympathy all day. It was like he had seen, and felt the horrors the night bought me, but for him, it was more than a dream. Ada could see the future. But how could this be the future? Death and war? No one knew we were here! No one even knew we existed! As far as they were concerned, we were a myth, created to entertain or warn children.

"Mummy?" A tiny figure stood in the doorway, complete with teddy bear. I knew Galadriel liked surprising me, but that one was just ridiculous! Someone up there loved me, my daughter; Artemis was living proof of that. Even from here, I could see her eyes- piercing blue framed by thick, black lashes, wide with fear-, some of her chocolate brown hair was obscuring my view. Fae appeared in the doorway behind her, dressed in a tight, baby-blue, silk nightdress.

"Come on. We've got a big day tomorrow. Let's get you back to bed" She gathered Artemis in her arms and carried her back down the hall. I sighed. I desperately needed to sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Thankfully, my excuse came barging through the door, right on cue! Elrohir stood in front of me, his eyes wide.

"Katie, we need extra hands in the infirmary!"

Dressed in my night gown- which was an infirmary gown I hadn't been bothered to replace. I was in here often anyway! - And matching robe I hurried down the corridor with Elrohir on the lead.

"Elrohir, I dead on my feet!" I whined, yawning to emphasise my point.

"There's a wound we need you to look at. There's an entry wound, no exit wound and no sign of what's in there or how much damage it's doing!" He hurried through the door, leaving me standing in the corridor. I sighed again and followed him in. On the bad lay a small girl who looked no older than maybe 20, but was in fact 25. Her golden curls were matted with blood and tangled around her sweat covered face. Elladan sat beside her, holding her hand and muttering soothingly to her.

"Jess!" I dropped my robe to the floor and quickly washed my hands in the bowl on of the nurses here handed me. They weren't trained healers. They were just here to look after the patients and make sure decent feed! Jessica's face was stained red and had Ada carefully stitching every open scratch. Thranduil was working on resetting her badly broken wrist. She was lying on her stomach, with a nurse keeping pressure on her back. I lifted the blanket and saw a small hole in the right side of her mid-back. "She's been shot" I could see Elladan about to argue. "Not by an arrow. There's a small chunk of metal in here somewhere" I gulped. This was gonna hurt like hell! I made a small cut on four sides of the hole, trying desperately to ignore her screams. Elladan kept up his effort of trying to sooth her. His eyes were wide and desperate, begging me to help her. I carefully and slowly slid a finger into the widened hole, searching for the bullet. Jess' shrieks were loud enough to wake the dead! My finger reached the bottom of the hole, brushing up against a deformed little chunk of metal. I hooked my finger around the bullet and reefed upwards. With a little noise that was cross between a slurp and a pop, the bullet came free. Jess gasped and slipped into unconsciousness. I didn't blame her!

Ada finished stitching the bullet wound.

"How long will it take for her to heal?" My question was directed to Thranduil who was staring at me from across the room.

"I can't tell. Maybe a week" Ada replied. Elladan was staring intently at Jess. Elrohir looked confused and was eyeing his brother with interest. There was something going on with Elladan, and I didn't know what it was. If I could catch his eye for even a second, maybe I could work it out. But there was no chance of that. His eyes were firmly glued on Jess; as though he were afraid she would vanish the second he looked away.

"I'll be back then to erase her memory then" My words sounded hard and cruel. I almost hated myself for saying them. But I knew Jess couldn't stay here, it would put us all in danger.

"We can't send her back!" Elladan jumped up. Everyone could only gape at him. I finally got a good look at his eyes. I was nearly knocked over with surprise. My brother, the famous flirt who I'm quite sure had slept with every woman in the elven kingdoms…had fallen in love. I don't mean a one night stand, or admitting that Jess was hot. He had finally found the woman of his dreams. He quickly composed his face. "There's something that complicates the matter" He pulled back a few strands of her golden hair to reveal delicate, pointed ears. "She's one of us!"

**Hey ya'll! I really hope you liked my first chapter! I know that my last two chapters of Adventure of Middle Earth were a bit of a letdown, sorry about that! But I'll redeem myself now! Thank you so much and please review and let me know what you think!**

**Luv ya,**

**Lost!**


	2. Ghosts from the Past

**Disclaimer: Lost doesn't own LotR or its characters. She also doesn't own Faelwen, Jess or Tywein, her friends are claiming them. Lost owns none of the Greek Gods, she just borrowed their names! Small amount of violence.**

Chapter 2- Ghosts From the Past- Katie's POV:

"Alright girls, today's the day!" It was late morning and I had my class of 17 gathered in our practice clearing. Today was their Hand to Hand Combat Finals. The girls had been training for it for months! "Legolas, Elrohir, Faelwen, Haldir and I will be testing you! At some time during the next two days, we will approach you. Your mark will be out of ten. If you get less than thirty out of forty for your years score, you will have to come and repeat the course again next year!" So far we had covered archery and hand to hand combat. That left the six months to cover swords and battle strategy. The girls were hard faced and nervous, looking up at me. "Now for the rules. Don't kill us! Please!" Some of the girls smiled. They were getting used to my sense of humour, the others just waited for the signal to laugh! "Don't worry about breaking furniture, I'll sort that out! As for bones, if you can avoid breaking ours, please do. You simply have to floor us for ten seconds and you'll win. You'll be marked on strategy, reaction time and performance. Good luck, even though I don't think you need it!" The girls cleared out and I turned to partners in crime behind me. "Now, math was never my strong point, how do we divide 17 by 5?" Legolas rolled his eyes. He knew I wasn't kidding! He'd seen firsthand just how bad I was. It had taken me 3 hours to work out how many people were coming to Celidë's party, when I had only been given the list of families and then the numbers of how many people were in the family!

"It's 3.4!" Legolas laughed. I raised an eyebrow. Not only was he physic, he was a human…elf? ...oh whatever! He was a living calculator! "I'm guessing we can't cut a girl into quarters, so someone will five and the rest will get three!"

"I want five!" Fae was jumping up and down on the spot like a little kid, hand waving manically in the air. Love her; fear her (It was usually for the best, just to make feel good about herself!) or hate her, this was my favourite sister, take it or leave it. Hal, Legolas and Elrohir collectively rolled their eyes, making it impossible to keep back the wave of laughter that I had been dying to let out. Fae stopped jumping.

"What?" She demanded angrily.

"You're just like me Fae!" She smiled, losing some of her mood. "You're only here for comedy relief!"

"Ok, that is it!" She ran after me still beaming from ear to ear. It was good to be about five thousand and still act like a kid!

"Like this?" Artemis blocked Legolas' sword. Her movements were quick, but messy. I had popped into the infirmary to see Jess after lunch. Elladan had not left her side, not even to eat! Jess herself was still out cold. Legolas and I were training Artemis in amongst the Ents, not too far from the road. I knew it was dangerous, but I loved this place, and I could collect my mail, if there was any while I was here. Ents not only surrounded Mirkwood, but all the other elven kingdoms, the Shire and Moria, as well as Ents in between that served as a fast, effective communication network.

"No, more like this" I stood from my seat amongst the roots, drawing my favourite blades which had been presents from Galadriel during my time with the fellowship. Legolas smiled his cocky little smile as I approached.

"Good luck elf boy!" I teased. Legolas just rolled his eyes. Our blades met with a clang that echoed in the emptiness of the forest. Hang on, how does that work? I'll figure it out later! The battle was a blur of blocks and sweeps and ducks that pushed my back further and further against the edge of the forest. I hated to admit it, but Legolas was better than me. Surprise was the only thing I had on my side. A strange metallic click filled the air, followed by another.

"Drop your weapons!" A gruff voice commanded. Legolas and I turned at the same moment, our little battle forgotten and facing the new threat. Two police officers stood with their guns aimed at us. A figure stood between them, looking hung-over and pissed off. I quickly turned my attention back to the two police officers.

"You will put your weapons away and leave. Forget you ever came here, forget you ever saw us" Their eyes glazed over and they obeyed like the mindless minions I had turned them into. The third figure stood, staring in shock as his friends walked away. He had dark brown hair and sensible brown eyes, a deep tan from years of working in the sun. His exposed skin looked a lot like mine, covered with pale battle wounds that seemed to still cause him pain. Apart from the scars, he appeared to be a very boring man. He was probably someone who had a desk job in a bank and spent his day off playing golf. Something seemed familiar about him. Did I know him?... well I guess the better question would be 'Did he remember me?' I kicked my brain into gear, trying desperately to put a name to his face.

_Well, don't anybody hold their breath! We could be here a while!_ Raise your hand if you like my conscious. Because you can have him if you want, no seriously, I'll pay you! Just take him away! My internal Aragorn's haunting laughter seemed to echo in my skull. _You know why it echoes, don't you? _I raised my fist, lining it up with my right temple before winding up. Legolas grabbed my wrist a centimetre before it made contact. I turned and smiled innocently.

"Yes?"

"Do I want to know?" Legolas smiled at me with his eyebrow raised. I smiled almost evilly, looking very thoughtful.

"Let's just say he will not survive his next visit to Mirkwood!" Legolas laughed and let go of my hand. I gave a quick smile and turned back to the man. The only problem was, by that stage, he was gone!

Damian's POV:

I'd been sitting in this bloody conference room for over two hours, waiting to talk to the person in charge of the idiots that made up the police force. Mum had wanted to come, but I managed to talk her into staying at home, just in case. I could hardly ignore what I'd seen! Katie: alive and being held hostage. What sort of brother would I be if I didn't try to save her? The door finally creaked open and a shrivelled old man with greying hair, dressed in a white and navy blue uniform entered the room. Behind him, was a woman in a white dress shirt that showed the top of her black, lacy bra. The shirt was crumpled as though she had never heard of an iron, coupled with a black skirt to her knees and high-heeled leather boots. Her hair was done in a messy pony with strands falling over her face. There were bags under her eyes which really showed against her pale skin, not very well hidden by her foundation. She also wore a black blazer that went to her elbows and a heavy folder balanced on her hip. There was also a man wearing a simple, but expensive grey suit. His hair was a similar shade of grey with glasses perched on his nose. He looked like a man with no life, but then again, I couldn't talk! This new job demanded a lot on the appearance side of it, but not a lot of work anywhere else. All that mattered was that I got my pay check at the end of the week.

"Mr Mason!" The old man shook my hand warmly in both of his like we were old buddies, even though this was our first meeting. "Sorry for the wait. I'm Howard Payne. How can we help you?" He gestured for me to sit. Mr Payne sat at the head of the table with the woman on his left and the man on his right. He introduced the man as James Godwin, the officer in charge of Katie's case and the woman as Fiona Gardener, a young law student who was interested in taking on the case when it went to court.

"I saw her…Katie I mean." The room was utterly silent for about three seconds before all the questions started coming at once. Payne raised his hands for silence and began the questioning himself.

"How long ago did you see her?"

"About three hours ago, I came here straight afterwards" Payne nodded. He had probably suspected me to start abusing him and the system the second he had walked through the door. He seemed almost surprised I had lasted this long.

"Where did you see her?" This time the question came from the lawyer.

"The old forest. She was with a man. They had swords. Two of your officers were with me, but they don't remember anything, she told them to leave, they left, she told them to forget, they forgot!" I could still see the way her eyes glowed with power as she commanded them. But why had they listened?

"Was she ok?" Fiona looked truly worried for Katie's safety, but it seemed like an act to me.

"She looked older, like she'd seen, lived through terrible times. She was covered in bruises, especially around the sides of her face, but there were some on her arms too. There were scars on her arms, some fresh, some older. She was wearing a brown leather jacket, boots and pants with a cream silk top and this strange silver band swirling across her forehead with diamonds set into it. It was like she was a giant Barbie doll! Fashion is NOT Katie's strong point!" The three nodded and Fiona took notes.

"Can you describe this man she was with?" Payne spoke again, obviously putting the finishing touches on his plan.

"This guy won't be hard to spot! He's got long, blonde hair braided at the back and above his ears. Tanned with a serious face and brown eyes, but they turned blue when he laughed…"

"Oh, so I think that narrows the search down to about five hundred people!" Fiona jumped from the table. How the hell she was a lawyer was beyond me. In my experience, it required patience.

"Oh, I think this will narrow it down even more… This man had pointed ears!"

Tywein's POV:

I sat in the cold night air. But I made the night look tropical. I sat rigidly on the stone bench of the government building, five stories up. I didn't often come to the city; I preferred the solitude of the docks and the life of a stalker. But was it really counted as stalking if she was my own flesh and blood? My baby? While I'm on the subject, does it count as identity theft if they had given me permission to use it? Alisha Mones had lived on the docks as well. She'd been a junkie and that was what killed her. She was shot by her supplier for apparently ripping him off. The door creaked open and a light switched on behind me. I heard the creak of a chair as he sat at his desk. It was now or never! I stood as silently as possible and somehow managed to squeeze the door open without him looking up. The man before me was in his mid-twenties with dark brown hair, an unshaven face- not a beard yet, but very heavy stubble- with a deep tan and tired brown eyes.

"Hello Damian!" My voice echoed strangely in the empty room that signified a man with no life. Damian jumped and swore, throwing his back against the wall.

"Who are you? How did you get in here? What do you want?" His voice was shaking. It seemed to me humans had a sixth sense for danger. I sighed sarcastically; it was something I'd picked up from Katie a long, long time ago!

"So many questions! I will only answer one if you do not mind." Damian regarded me with wary eyes, but seemed to relax slightly. "You owe me a life debt, and I come to claim it!" I raised my hand, revealing the gun that was concealed within. "Goodbye Damian!" With a deafening bang, Damian fell to the floor, his blood soaking the white carpet. The bullet had entered his shoulder, not exactly where I'd been aiming for, but close enough. "Remember this face Damian Mason; hold onto it, because it will be the last face you ever see! And with your last breath, think of Jess, think of my daughter. With your last breath, remember this is only half of the pain you put her through!" I turned back to the balcony that would serve as my escape route. "Oh and Damian!" I turned at the door, smiling innocently. Damian looked up with eyes full of pain. "Go to Hell!"

Katie's POV:

My head was pounding. How much did I drink last night? Jess had woken up sometime last night and we had insisted on a little celebration. As far as I can remember, Jess didn't drink, but I drank enough for both of us! Jess and Elladan were going out today to pick up anything she wanted from her old house. I had decided to tag along and go visit Mum. That meant Legolas and Artemis would be coming too. Fae had also decided to join our little expedition- claiming that she would finally get to experience a little bit of my old life- bringing with her Hal and their daughter Angel. Elrohir didn't want to miss out on anything and Ada wanted to meet my mother. Thranduil was interested in the outside world and Celidë thought it was completely beneath her, but came for the sake of company. Arwen and Aragorn, who had arrived sometime during the night, were also joining us. We'd give poor Mum a heart attack! We were also going to visit Jess' Dad, Ben, hoping to find out a little more about the elf side of the family.

We met in the dining hall when we were all dressed. It seemed all the girls had tried to outdo each other. I wore a black, silk dress that was loose and flowing, with a low rounded neckline that hung off my shoulders coupled with my black boots. Down my back were my favourite knives, most of the hilt exposed. Luckily we all had to wear our hair long to hide our ears, but that didn't stop Fae looking good! She wore a light weight, white under dress that was close fitted and came to her hands where it was tipped with gold. On top of that, she wore a baby blue gown with the huge sleeves she absolutely adored- she was easily amused! - That had golden trim. I knew that under all that fabric she was hiding two daggers and four swords! It was physically impossible to separate Fae from her daggers. Angel had her hair out at the front and up at the back, golden strands always falling into her eyes. Her dress was consisted of two, just like her mothers'. The under dress was white with a big puffy skirt that fell to her ankles and sleeves that were done up with bows at her wrists. Over that she had a blue shirt that was short-sleeved and done up at the front by a black cord. Also just like her mother, I knew Angel had daggers strapped to her wrists and double swords hidden in sheaths under her skirt. In a way, Angel was just like Celidë: strong and able to fight while still looking graceful. Speaking of fighting…I still had to go over the reports for the trials we'd had yesterday. Artemis had the back of her hair up in a bun with the front covering her ears. Her dress was the off white colour that as popular in the 1920's and 30's. The dress was short sleeved and tight fitting on the torso, done up at the back like a corset. It had a very rectangular neckline and a sash in the middle. After the sash, came the long, flowing cotton of her skirt. The very top of a dagger hilt could just be seen sticking out from her sash, and from the looks of the hilt, it was the dagger Fae had given her for her birthday. To humans, the girls would appear about eight to ten years old, when in fact, Artemis was fifty seven and Angel was sixty three. Then again, Hal looked like he couldn't be a day older than twenty five, and he was older than Fae! Jess was twenty four, she didn't just look it! I guess every elf ages at a different pace, in her case, she grew up like a normal human and stopped aging at twenty. Sometimes elves are a pain! Arwen stood by the door in a stunning dark blue silk gown that I was quite sure had been stolen from Fae's collection. Fae had an obsession with blue and purple dresses, Angel with white, Artemis with brown, Celidë with autumn colours and me with green and black. Arwen didn't really stick to any colour in particular; they all looked good on her! Arwen was the only one going unarmed. I suppose that made her the smartest. If any of us were seen with weapons, we'd be arrested before we broke cover of the trees. Celidë stood with Thranduil, looking like someone had set her on fire. No, literally! Her dress was a four layered skirt that started red, then two orange layers of different shades and finally a yellow layer that then came up to for the top half of the dress, not that there was much of it, just two tiny straps holding it to her body. She carried no daggers or swords but a much more powerful and effective weapon: Her Claws! Jess had been given a dress for today; not too dissimilar to the one Artemis was wearing, but had decided not to wear it, instead altering her under dress into something she was happy with. The dress was white and came to her knees. It was embroidered down the front and done up with buttons; most at the top and bottom were open, leaving lots of material to flap in the breeze. Many of the guys were eyeing her off, while the women thought it was disgusting. Elladan had given her a crash course in using the hunting knife strapped to her thigh, but she still looked nervous. Aragorn, even though he had been turned into an elf, retained the scruffy ranger look through all odds! For today, Aragorn had limited his almost endless creative weapons to what could be easily accessed and concealed. Legolas and Thranduil were…

_Have you ever realised that your thoughts sound as though you're telling them to someone else? _My internal Aragornasked, catching me completely by surprise.

_What?_

_When you think, you talk to yourself mentally like you're telling a story to someone else! It's really annoying!_

…_My head, my rules! _I stuck my tongue out, only meaning to do it mentally, but accidently stuck it out at the real Aragorn, who looked at me like I was mad and began back away slowly. _Great! Now you've done it! I don't know how, I don't know when, but someday I'm going to get rid of you! _I'll give you a hundred buck? Diamonds? Gold? You name!

We followed Thranduil out of the forest by a path that was often used by the guards on patrol. Currently, three women covered this border, all graduates from my course. After finishing, they had decided they no longer wanted to do cooking, or be handmaidens. They had started their own patrol and I couldn't be more proud of them! Apparently every night after that, Thranduil has been dreaming of killing me in my sleep! Celidë's handmaiden was apparently the one who came up with the idea, and I don't blame her! Celidë can be a nightmare to deal with, and she treats me as an equal! I would have killed myself after an hour of taking orders from her! Jess lived about ten minutes walk from the forest while Mum live right on the edge of the city. Her next door neighbours lived in a skyscraper! It was really scary living in the shadow of that thing! I could see Jess' picket fence from a mile away, nothing else on the street was that daggy!

"I'm gonna go straight to Mum's" Legolas turned to look at me. This was the first time he had heard of my master plan and he didn't like it one bit! "You guys go with Jess. She hasn't seen me in so long, I just thought it would be better if I went and explained before 14 people rock up on her door step!" Legolas nodded.

"But how will we find your Mum's house?" He wasn't trying to stop me from going, merely looking on the practical side.

"Jess knows the way." Legolas nodded and wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing me gently on the forehead. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around him. The others were only one house away from Jess' when we finally broke apart. "Come with me?"

"Well, this is it!" I stood before the heavy white wood door, suddenly very afraid of what lay beyond. Legolas stood beside me, squeezing my hand. With one last sigh I brought my fist down and tapped lightly. At first I thought no one would hear me, but after a few seconds I heard the sound of someone shuffling towards the front door. The woman who opened it had black hair done messily into a bun with roses rather than her usual chopsticks and bags under her grey eyes. She wore jeans two sizes too big with one of Dad's old racing shirts. Over the top, she wore a Christmas stripped apron with a red star over her heart. The smell of honey-barbeque ribs drifted from the kitchen, bringing back pleasant family meals and the arguments over the best bits. Mum looked up from her book, only half aware of the real world. She adored Shakespeare and carried a batter copy of Romeo and Juliet with her everywhere. Now it sat open in her hand, her index finger slotted between the pages as a book mark. I smiled shyly. Mum launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck, her book falling, forgotten to the floor. "Hi Mum!"

"So, where have you been for five months? And who's your friend?" Legolas and I sat in the kitchen while Mum put the kettle on. She still wore the necklace Damian had made me as though it were her only hope. She remembered the choice I had made, the time we had seen each other in a place that was somewhere between reality and a dream. In a way that made it harder. Legolas grabbed my hand under the table, making me a little more confident.

"Well, I suppose there's no place like the beginning! But it's a long story, and Legolas might have to translate occasionally." Mum looked puzzled but nodded for me to continue. "I woke at midnight and found a lady standing at the end of my bed. She told me to follow, and because I thought it was a dream, I did. She said her name was Galadriel…." I started by telling Mum about Galadriel, quickly moving into Rivendell. I think I spent more time telling her about the architecture than the events that happened there. Some of my stories made her laugh, like my brothers robbing the Rohan cook of her key to the wine cellar, while the stories of battle had her almost in tears. I finished my story with Aragorn's coronation. "After that I spent 5000 years living in Mirkwood. You call it the Old Forest." Now for the hard bit: Telling Mum she had a son-in-law and a granddaughter. She took it surprisingly well

"…Well, if you're all coming, you might as well stay for dinner! Damian will be so happy to see you!" I looked away in disgust. I could hardly stand the name of my own brother after what he had done to Jess.

"No!" the amount of compulsion that I had automatically put behind my words was so strong I made Mum stagger. Legolas muttered dirty things in Elvish in my ear, calming me down. "Sorry!" Mum nodded and sat back down.

"There's more, isn't there?" I nodded. There was no point in lying to her. By the time I had finished my story, the sun had set and the others could be seen coming down the street in their colourful outfits. There were a lot of hugs and introductions, most of them said in common and then in Elvish. Artemis and Angel came in after everybody but Elrohir. Mum and Artemis got a long immediately, even though the language barrier. Angel just smiled politely until someone could be bothered to translate. When the girls walked in I noticed a little black and brown bundle attached to each of their arms.

"Jess, what is that?" I jerked my chin at the bundle. Jess smiled.

"That would be a Dachshund. Sorry! She begged!" I rolled my eyes. Just what we needed! Two puppies wandering the palace! Oh well, as long as the girls kept them out of trouble. Elrohir was the most trouble of everyone, insisting on flirting with Mum at every opportunity. Mum was enjoying it a little too much. Ewww! "Seriously Elrohir? She's my Mum! And considering I'm your sister…just Ewww!" I screamed at him in Elvish, receiving chuckles from all who could understand me and two young, innocent faces staring blankly at me. It would be a shame that I had no choice but to corrupt them. Their innocence was almost enough to make me go gooey…and I don't do gooey! Dinner was served at seven. Mum had only been cooking for herself, yet there was plenty for all seventeen of us, that includes the dogs! Artemis had named hers 'Laito' or Baby and Angel had named hers 'Lote' or flower. Mum, as always when we had guests over, told the most embarrassing stories from my childhood, most needed to be translated and if I refused Ada made sure it was! Mum insisted we stay the night giving no room for argument. Mum was in her bed, Angel and Artemis were sharing Ailie's bed, Celidë and Thranduil shared mine. Ada had one of the two lounges and Arwen had the other. The rest of us were shoved on mattresses in the living room floor. Sometime during the night, Baby came into bed and decided my face was a comfy pillow.

"Get off!" I whined into my pillow, words half muffled by the pillow, half muffled by the dog. Baby licked me once up the face before trotting off down the hall to annoy someone else. Hopefully Celidë! I would give almost anything to see the look on her face. The clock in the hall began its little song and dance, striking the hour. One Am. I rolled over and was halfway back to sleep when I heard a car pull in the driveway. I grabbed my knives from the back of my dress- you got used to sleeping on a bed of weapons and in the end found it quite comfortable! "Legolas!" He was always hard to get up in the mornings, but now was not the time, the driver door was already opening and it wouldn't be too long before we had company. Legolas sprang into action, drawing his knives from under his pillow. There wasn't much more than a minute before the door would open, but in that minute we had assembled a small defence team, sent Jess to wake the others and find a window escape. I moved the curtains ever so slightly, just enough for me to see out, but hopefully not enough for whoever it was to see me. Damian was getting out of Jess' car, his left arm in a sling. Legolas looked over my shoulder, giving the signal to relax.

"Katie?" I turned. Legolas was waiting for my answer. "Fight or flight?" I sighed, massaging my temples. Mornings were bad enough as it was without having to have conversations and make decisions.

"Flight" The others nodded and headed down the hall after Jess. I paused in the hallway, only for a second, but enough to grab Legolas' attention. He looked sadly into my eyes, understanding. "I'll only be a minute. Head to Ben's house, I'll meet you there." He nodded and ran after the others. In my dress, I was almost as black as the shadows, only my skin would make me visible to my brother. Keys dangled in the door as Damian struggled to open the door with his opposite hand. Every second could have been an hour. When the door swung open, I hardly recognised the man standing before me. He was the man from two days ago, the man who had accompanied the police. But he was still different. His arm was in a blue sling and his white shirt was stained with dried blood. His face was contorted in pain and his eyes were puffy and blood shot. The second I met them, a wave of emotions flooded through me.

_~Flashback through Damian~ _

_Damian was rushed into emergency with a bullet still embedded in his left shoulder. It was a woman who had shot him, and for some reason I wasn't surprised! She had blond hair to her waist with a slight curl in it, but barely enough to be noticed. Her eyes were a sharp blue/grey, filled with anger and I must admit pleasure as she watched Damian suffer. Tywein. _

"_Remember this face Damian Mason" Her words were haunting and filled with poison. "Hold onto it, because it will be the last face you ever see! And with your last breath, think of Jess, think of my daughter. With your last breath, remember this is only half the pain you put her through!" She turned for the door. "Oh and Damian, go to Hell!"_

_The scene changed suddenly back to the emergency room. Two police officers and a man in a suit stood by his bed._

"_We've found her" The man in the suit was at least sixty and looked more fragile than Celidë if that were possible. His voice sounded like 100 year old paper. "A body was found in the river on the outskirts of town. It's badly decayed and must have been there for months…"_

"_Well it can't be her!" Damian interrupted. "I saw her!"_

"_We've done DNA tests from what was left and a facial reconstruction. I'm sorry, Katie's dead."_

_~End flashback~_

So that's what Galadriel had done with my body. Damian was staring at me, trying to determine if I was simply a trick of the light.

"Katie?" His voice cracked, almost bringing me to tears. I smiled sadly. "They said you were dead"

"I am. We are only meant to live once. Be born, live life and die. It doesn't matter how much we screw our life up, that's our chance. You and me? We blew it! Some things are meant to stay dead…and we're one of them!" I kissed him gently on the forehead. "Goodbye" And with that I speed off into the night, after my family.

**Hey ya'll! I really hope you liked my chappie and would really appreciate a review! I'm quite serious about selling Katie's internal Aragorn. I created him and he drives ME nuts! Sorry for the wait and thanks to my epic editors! I know a lot happens in this chapter and sorry if it's a little hard to follow, but the next chapter should clear everything up! Well, thanks and I'll update A.S.A.P!**

**Lost **


	3. A Night to Remember

**DISCLAIMER: Ok, for the millionth time, Lost does not any part of Lord of the Ring! Nor does she own Jess, Tywein, Faelwen or Angel; they have been stole by her mob of unloyal nerdy ninjas! Songs used in this chapter do not belong to Lost, she has just borrowed them! Lost does not own ICE, but she does have a 10% members discount! She also doesn't own Dotti or Wanted, but they are on her list of favourite stores. She doesn't own Play School, and is in fact scared of small children so stays away from all children's shows for fear of attracting their attention. She is however obsessed with Ben10! After Dark may in fact be the name of a real club, but Lost doesn't know, if there is a club called After Dark she doesn't own it! Thanks to elyrics for the lyrics for this chapter. Lost wishes she owned but doesn't own Monty Python and more specifically The Life of Brian which is quoted in this chapter. Her childhood finally made sense when she watched it!**

**WARRNING! : There may be some M content in just this chapter!**

Chapter 3- A Night to Remember- Katie's POV:

We'd spent all day at Ben's house, chatting and hanging out in the air conditioning, napping in front of the T.V. The girls thought it was brilliant how all the pictures moved and sound came at the same time. They didn't really grasp the whole concept of electricity… so I told them 'There are little men in the telly' They couldn't actually understand a word that was being said as it was all in common, so every add break they made me explain what was happening. If I'd know they would have made me watch three episodes of Play School then I never would have let the watch the darn thing. Jess was staring at the ring on her hand. It had a silver band with elvish inscription on the inside and a baby pink stone set in the top, not too dissimilar to my own which had a blue stone. It had been a gift from Arwen when we were convinced we would never see her again. This was the ring Arwen had given in secret to Tywein. Everyone was still sitting around the table with tea and biscuits, trying to work it out. I just sat, smiling evilly to myself, wondering how much longer I could get away with this.

"Alright giggles!" Legolas sighed turning to look at me. "You obviously know something. Care to share?" I pouted.

"You're a spoil-sport you know! I was planning to get away with this all day!" Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Tywein never died, nor did she lose her ring. She lives in the city somewhere. She shot Damian… for 'killing' Jess, her daughter." Everyone was gaping at me. I waved shyly and began explain what a space ship was to Artemis and Angel.

"You mean you've been sitting on this? For how long?" Jess sounded slightly annoyed, but she knew me well enough to expect it. I looked at the clock.

"About ten hours!"

"But Mama!" Artemis whined as I dressed her in a borrowed night gown, her hair still wet from the bath. I'd forgotten how good bath bombs were! We were going out tonight, well... most of us were. Celidë, Thranduil, Artemis and Angel were staying behind. Apparently a club wasn't their scene and Haldir and Legolas had banned the girls from coming. "Why can't I come with you?" I sighed. Artemis was generally a good kid, but boy could she argue! While we were living in this world, she would make a fabulous lawyer!

"Because your father said so!" Artemis pouted and ran off to continue her argument with Legolas. Note to self: Don't let Artemis spend so much alone time with Celidë! I sighed- I seemed to be doing that a lot lately, maybe it was my internal Aragorn! - And ran off to get changed. Jess had bought me a dress from ICE. It was white and layered with bronze coloured decorations around the neckline matched with a dark brown, silk jacket from Dotti and brown gladiator sandals from Wanted. My hair was curled at the ends and Celidë had attacked me with just about everything and anything she could find in Jess' makeup kit. For the millionth time in my life I felt like a giant Barbie Doll. Every day, Legolas would pick my clothes and advise the dress maker on my clothes. Celidë had taught him well, too well for his own good. Fae looked stunning as always in an almost see-through dress that was only solid at the front, the back was fair game. It had a huge neckline decorated with silver sequins and like my dress was layered, hers in blue and purple. It only just came to the knees and left very little to the imagination. Hal would love it! This was coupled with a silver jacket and heels. Jess wore a red strapless dress to her knees with a gold purse and black jacket and heels. Arwen looked best of all in a shimmery gold dress that fell about her ankles and was split till halfway up the thigh. The boys were in a mixture of formal and casual which really didn't go with their hair, braided ponytails that covered the tips of their ears. Elladan and Elrohir wore dark blue jeans with black leather shoes, a black blazer and a white T-shirt. Legolas wore a white long-sleeved shirt pushed up past his elbows, dark blue jeans and sneakers. Aragorn wore black jeans, tailored black jacket, white T-shirt and his boots with his scruffy hair loose around his face. Hal was dressed a lot like Legolas, but had a dark blue top and Ada wore brown boots, dark blue jeans and a tuxedo T-shirt that looked about a million years too young for him, but I guess that's just because I knew he was old. Jess drove us to her favourite club 'After Dark' just down the street. It was big, fancy building that had a five star restaurant on top with the club in the basement. Smoke rolled lazily about the floor, hiding it from view, the flashing lights changing it from green to blue to purple. Music I didn't recognise pumped out in a slow beat that I could feel through the soles of my shoes. Jess found us a table and flagged a waitress. She ordered champagne for Ada and Arwen, beer for Aragorn, Legolas, Hal, Elladan and Elrohir, a vodka cruiser for Fae and I ordered a pina colada, a lovely, creamy pineapple, coconut and rum concoction. "Keep 'em commin'" Jess ordered, slipping the waitress a wad of hundred dollar bills.

"So…" Elladan started casually. "What's the signal to get out… you know, if trouble strikes?" Everyone looked at me, God only knows why! I put my brain into first gear.

"Ave Mary A by Pink" Everyone nodded, grabbed their drinks and headed off in different directions. I smiled and hit the dance floor with Legolas in tow.

**~Later~**

The music had changed to soft and slow, a rocking beat that they called 'Couples hour'. Don't ask, I don't know! Fae and Hal were sitting at our table making out as usual, Elrohir was at the bar trying to pick up girls, Elladan was trying to convince Jess to dance with him- and might I say, failing miserably!- Ada was sitting at the table trying to ignore Fae and Hal and Aragorn and Arwen were dancing. I'd forgotten how much I loved the real world. Not that where I was from wasn't real, but everyday seemed like a dream.

_You're forgetting something Katie! _God! I couldn't even escape my internal Aragorn when I was drunk! _Dreams, good or bad, you always have to wake up! You can't forget that! Don't you get it? It's the key to everything! If you can't defeat your enemy asleep, how can you expect to defeat him awake?_

_Why are you making less sense than usual? It's because I'm drunk isn't it?_ He only rolled his eyes. I'm not crazy, trust me!

_Just don't forget my warning!_

_Oh, so now you're in charge of my life?_

_That could be arranged!_

_Really? Try me!_

… _You are so annoying! By the way, duck._

_Huh?_

SMACK! A meaty fist collided with the right side of my face, pain exploding behind my eyes. Had someone just punched me?

_I told you so! _Aragorn laughed smugly.

_A little more warning next time!_ He just laughed. The offer is still there for anyone who wants him!

"Miss, are you alright?" A man was leaning over me, looking concerned. When had I hit the floor? I nodded, making sure my knives were ok and hadn't ripped my back to shreds. The right side of my face felt numb, but give it a few hours and it would hurt like hell. Legolas was wrapped up in a fight with Damian, and both were giving and receiving some pretty bad blows. I staggered to my feet, trying to get between them, but a wrist pulled me back. "Stay out of it" the man who helped me warned. I reached down my dress and gripped the hilts of my knives.

"Too slow yet again Katie!" A delicate hand holding a jewel encrusted dagger appeared at Damian's throat. Tywein. "Now get of here quick!" I nodded thanks and quickly assembled my family who already had weapons drawn. The security guard stood in our way, trying to look intimidating.

"Move it or lose it honey!" I smiled sweetly. "And by 'IT' I mean your life!" The guard stepped aside and smiled nervously as we passed, disappearing quickly into the night and leaving Tywein to her fun.

Legolas POV:

Katie rolled over restlessly, grunting something about chickens in her sleep. I laughed and went back to my book. This was what I did most nights while she was asleep. Elrond knocked on the open door.

"May I come in?" I nodded and put my book back on the desk. "This is not the end; Damian does not know what he is capable of. He covets Katie like a possession and will never stop trying to get her back." His words brought back the unpleasant memories of the night. Katie turned uncomfortably again, revealing the huge bruise that now dominated the right side of her face. Damian should have known better, if he wanted her back, this was definitely not the way. I moved from the chair and sat beside her, gently tracing the edges of her face. "He does not care about her safety or anyone else's, he is the exact opposite of the person Katie remembers, and he is not strong enough to change that, not like Aragorn and Katie did! You mustn't let him get her, promise me! He will torture her and she will forget who she is long before she forgets us. She will be doomed to a life of imprisonment. You must keep her safe. She is all that stands between the destruction of our world!" Elrond turned to leave, but stopped, answering my unspoken question. "All will be revealed soon"

Katie's POV:

I stood on a cold dirt floor with the forest behind me, the whole scene soaked by rain. Usually, this would be one of my favourite feelings: The rain washing over me, wind playing with my hair and my bare toes digging into the cold earth, but not today. Today a scene that had once been so comforting was a scene of horror. Behind me, the forest burned and at my feet lay the bodies of many I had once called my friends. Men, Hobbits, Elves and Dwarves who had fought and died together. I didn't want to look, but it was too late. Faces jumped out at me. Fae. Haldir. Arwen. The twins. I sunk to my knees, my heart breaking inside my chest, my tears mixing with the rain. The body that lay in front of me was defiantly elven, but I couldn't tell who, the left side of his face was mutilated beyond any and all recognition. I felt like I should know him, but part of me was screaming to forget. Forget them all, but I knew I couldn't do that. These people were all I had. I turned the body with shaking hands, gasping at the recognition. Legolas. Three bullets had ripped through the gaps in his armour and it looked as if a bomb had been set off right next to him. My mind went into instant replay mode, going over the moments we spent to together. The battles, our wedding, Artemis. Everything passed before my eyes. The short time two immortal lives spent together summed up in ten seconds. Pain took me, but it was welcome. The physical pain of my shattering heart hurt a lot less than what that meant. The last thing I saw before I died was the figure still griped tightly in his arms. But who was she? Her neck was snapped and her eyes had rolled back in her head, her black hair matted with blood, sweat and rain plastered across his chest. I was instantly jealous. She may be dead, but she had died with the man I loved, and even in death he gripped her tightly, unwilling to let her go. That should have been me! But who am I? It felt like I was being ripped in a thousand directions, I couldn't help the scream that escaped me. The scene changed and I was lying in a bed made of silk sheets and a dark wood frame. A man lay beside me. A man who was defiantly not Legolas. He wore only green silk boxers and had brown spiky hair with a cigarette between his teeth.

"I told you we could come to an arrangement! I promise you, I won't let them hurt you! Any of you!" His voice had a heavy Russian accent and stunk of cigarettes and alcohol. I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I was only doing it to keep my family safe, there was no other option. I lay back into the sheets and squeezed my eyes shut as his hands felt up and down my naked body. Legolas would hate me, but I was doing this for him, for all of them. It was either this or…they died. I woke gasping, feeling the warmth of my quilt and the softness of my mattress beneath me. It had all been a dream!  
"It isn't over yet Katie!" That voice sent shivers down my spine. I didn't even have to open my eyes, I knew who it was. Damian. His voice was ice cold and dripping with poison. I slowly opened one eye then the other. I wasn't in Mirkwood. The warmth I'd once thought my quilt was actually a thick woollen straitjacket and my mattress was the padded confines of my cells. The once sterile white walls were now covered in blood and food splatters, most of it writing in Elvish with names like Legolas, Faelwen and Artemis. I knew those names, and Damian was doing everything in his power to change that. But, who was Katie? Was I Katie? There didn't seem to be anyone else around, he must have been talking to me. Katie? I'd always thought I'd be more of an Olivia! I remembered chunks of my life, my wedding, my daughter, my family, but my name, what I looked like, it was a mystery. "Don't you get it?" Damian spoke again, this time more impatiently. The scene changed yet again and the darkness consumed me. Damian disappeared, but I could still hear him. I was surrounded by three spotlights, each one facing a different scene, each a scene I had lived through tonight. The forest, the bedroom and the cell. "No matter how this ends, it ends with me on top. You will be humbled to my power and no matter what you try, you always be mine!" I sat bolt upright, this time for real, screaming loud enough to wake the dead and possibly deafen the elf sleeping beside me, but at that point in time, I really didn't care!

"Katie?" I could vaguely hear Legolas walking towards me, but I couldn't do more than lie on the cold stone floor of the bathroom and cry, only just resisting the urge to puke. "Katie!" Legolas ran over, gently pulling my head into his lap, much more comfortable than a stone floor I must say! But the movement caught me by surprise. I think I turned a sickly green colour. Legolas seemed to get the message, grabbing me a bucket from beside the bath and holding my hair back for me while I chucked my guts up. I fell back exhausted into his lap, giving a weak smile.

"Morning!" I managed to croak. Legolas blinked down at me like I was an alien from Pluto or something.

"Why do you do that?"

"I'm sorry you're gonna have to be more specific." It really hurt to talk; I guess it was all that screaming I did. "Why do I do what? Scream, throw up or put a hilarious twist on everything?" Legolas smiled.

"Eventually I'd like the answer to all three, but for now the last one will suffice." I smiled back.

"Oh, that's simple! Because _Always look on the bright side of life! Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do!"_ That was from my favourite Monty Python, The Life of Brian. They were singing it as they were being crucified. Legolas just rolled his eyes and helped me up, sitting me on the edge of the bed. I lay back against the head board, rubbing sleep from my eyes. Legolas popped his head out the door, flagging a hand maiden and muttering something about breakfast.

"So…why were you screaming?" Trust Legolas to get straight to the point. I shifted uncomfortably under his stare.

"Bad dream." Legolas nodded, understanding that I didn't want to talk about it. "And that…" I pointed at the bathroom. "Was a combination of a bad dream and hangover!" Legolas sat beside me, tracing the edges of the huge bruise that now adorned my face. "Anyway, aren't you supposed to be going hunting today?" Legolas looked at me with concern.

"I don't think I'll go today." I sighed; this was because of me wasn't it? "So...I was thinking." Legolas was very good at changing the subject. "Why don't we do a proper Christmas this year?" My eyes lit up.

"Do you really mean it? With EVERYBODY?" Legolas smiled and nodded.

**Hey ya'll! Sorry it took so long for me to update but I've had my yearly exams to worry about. So far, I've only got my science marks back and I got 46/64! YAY! I really hope you liked the chapter and I'll update ASAP! Lu ya'll**

**Lost**


	4. Coal for Christmas

**DISCLAIMER: Lost owns nothing in this chapter that she doesn't own.**

Chapter 4: Katie's POV: Coal for Christmas

I ran quickly through the palace, throwing myself into the nearest broom closet before Elladan and Elrohir could strangle me. Legolas hadn't known exactly what he signed everybody else up for when he said we could have Christmas.

There was now a huge hole in the hall floor that had a tree growing in it and a million presents around it, decorations hung from the walls and ceilings all over the place. And now I was putting the finishing touch on my decorating. I'd got the dress maker to make some costumes for me, infused with a special type of glue to keep them on for at least an hour. Man she had an evil laugh! And now we were both running around and dressing people up. That was why Elladan and Elrohir were trying to kill me. I'd dressed them up as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Santa. Elladan looked good in a beard!

I heard the sound of running feet pass by the door and I couldn't help but smile. They could run all day and not find me. I quietly crept from my hiding place and snuck into the kitchens where Naureth was making someone's breakfast. I smiled evilly. She would make a great Mrs Clause.

Legolas' POV:

Jess paced nervously around the confines of her room, muttering every curse she could think of while I sat awkwardly by the door. Jess had flagged me as I walked past her room, taking me hostage while she had an emotional breakdown. Her hot chocolate and chocolate biscuits sat untouched on her dresser.

The first thing Katie did when she got to Mirkwood was blow up the kitchen trying to make chocolate. Why do you think my father asked her to play with sharp, pointy objects? It was less of a danger! No one was sure if elves could die from food poisoning, but Katie seemed determined to find out. So five kitchens later, Katie succeeded and set out on a new quest: To introduce everybody to the wonders of sugar highs. Don't ask. Though many have tried, none have yet been successful in working out what is wrong with her mind.

"How can this be happening to me? Who upstairs did I piss off this time?" Jess flopped onto her bed and buried her tear stained face into the sheets.

"Look, nothing's certain yet, just relax." What else was I supposed to say? Tell her that her worst fear was about to come true? ...Whatever that was. I didn't even know why I was here. Why me of all people? My train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Jess nodded for me to get it and ran into the bathroom. I sighed. Why did women have to be so complicated? If just one male could figure it out, it would save the rest of us millennia of trying to understand. Elladan stood in the door, trying to pull the white beard off his face. I decided not to ask.

"Jess, have you seen Leg…? What are you doing here?" Elladan looked quite comical with the fake bushy eyebrows raised in curiosity while he still struggled to free the beard.

"I'm being held against my will by an emotional woman." Elladan gave me a sympathetic look. "Why are you looking for me?"

"Katie's got herself in trouble again." I sighed.

"What did she do this time?"

"This." Elladan pointed at his costume. "And she's been doing it to everybody all day! Elrohir and I were the first to be ambushed, then Ada and Haldir, then Thranduil and Celidë. She was trying to dress Naureth up when she got hit in the head with a frying pan. She's got ten stitches and another huge bruise, and trust me, when she wakes up she'll have a killer headache!"

"When will she wake up?" I was trying to be worried, really I was. But, she had asked for it, and I was getting so used to it. Every time I saw her she had a new collection of bruises or scars, her latest being from one of the guards thinking she was an enemy and holding her at knife point. "Jess, Katie's in trouble again. Sorry, but I have to go."

Jess started sobbing again. Women. Katie isn't like that, in fact, she can't admit to _needing _anyone, not even me. To her, being dependant was giving up, and admitting that she couldn't do something… that was the lowest form of failure to her. She'd rather do it herself and fail trying than succeed by asking for help. She wanted to fight her own battles, but she wasn't stupid. She _could _put her pride aside when it wasn't only her choice.

"Please don't leave me alone!" I sighed before smiling evilly.

"Don't worry Jess, you won't be alone. Elladan will stay with you. Won't you Elladan?" Elladan stood, shocked for a moment before glaring at me in pure, undisguised rage.

"Of course I will!" He said through his teeth loud enough for Jess to hear him before turning to me and whispering under his breath. "I will have my revenge Legolas!" I tried to keep a straight face, but it was no use.

"I'm sorry; I can't take you seriously in that costume." And with that I left Elladan to his doom. Katie would be proud!

Elladan's POV:

I sat cross-legged on the bed while Jess sat in my lap and cried into my shoulder. Legolas wasn't joking when he'd said she was emotionally unstable! The fake beard and eyebrows lay on the floor. With a little help from Jess we'd managed to get them off.

"I'm sorry!" Jess apologised for the millionth time, wiping the tears off her face and attempting to wipe them off my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it!" Jess pulled back and looked me dead in the eye.

"Thank you." Jess leaned in, her lips pressing lightly against my cheek. She pulled back and smiled. "You're blushing." She leaned in again to rest her head on my shoulder. My fingers lightly caught her chin, pulling her closer to me. "Elladan." Jess' voice was shaky. "We can'..." My lips cut off her protests. I wasn't the most patient person and I needed to show her that I cared. It had almost killed me to see her hurt and she had made me believe in love at first sight. She'd made me believe in love.

Before, everything was for fun. Our sister weren't joking when they said Elrohir and I had slept with just about everybody! But Jess was different. I could see a future with her.

Jess went limp in my arms and for a second I thought she'd fainted. She wrapped her arms around my neck, knotting her fingers in my hair and pulling me closer. Time seemed to blur. We could have been there for hours, seconds, minutes, I could no longer tell.

I pulled back slightly as the iron taste hit me. What was that? Jess screwed her face up in pain and brought her fingers up to her bleeding lip. Jess looked up at me and smiled despite the pain.  
"I think we might have to take it easy on the stitches!"

Jess POV:

Elladan walked me to the infirmary, his hand around my waist. I liked it there. Damian had never touched me in affection since he'd gotten back, only for his own amusement.

I couldn't help but feel guilty. How would I tell Elladan? How would I tell him that as much as I wanted him, I'd never be able to let Damian go? I thought I knew what love was, but now I wasn't sure. Had Damian ever loved me? Would Elladan still love me when he found out the truth? I'd thought, almost hoped that I'd left that life behind, but now, it was so far from the truth. How was I supposed to tell him that I was pregnant... and Damian was the father!

Katie's POV:

I woke up with a headache. Nothing new there! But this was not my average headache, this hurt WAY more, like I'd been hit over the head with a frying pan. Then it hit me –no pun intended! I HAD been hit over the head with a frying pan. Great! Like my face needed anymore bruises! I softly traced my fingers over the line of stitches and smiled sarcastically. That was gonna leave a scar. Legolas sat beside the bed, holding out a cup of tea to me without looking up from his book.

"Thanks!" I laughed sarcastically. "I'm glad I'm only taking 10% of you away from your book!" Legolas lowered the book and raised an eyebrow.

"I leave you alone for five minute..." He sighed, sounding annoyed, but his smile gave him away. He sat on the bed next to me, gently kissing the stitches. "Now get dressed or you'll miss Christmas!"

Fae rushed into the room dressed in a gorgeous blue-green dress with a silver band across the waist and her hair intricately braided in a style that reminded me of Ada's hair. The resemblance was almost disturbing.

"I got you a dress made… I hope you like it!" Fae held out a green silk dress decorated with a green floral pattern around my waist and down into the flowing skirt with no sleeves.

"Thanks Fae!" Fae pushed me into the bathroom to change while she set up hair instruments that looked like they were designed to torture me.

Luckily Fae went easy on me with the hair, putting it up in my normal pony with a braided headband. Artemis and Angel however, were not so lucky.

Angel wore an ankle length red dress with embroidered gold floral patterns and a huge green bow around the waist. Her blond hair which only yesterday had been shoulder high and a raggedy mess –She had attempted to cut it herself with blunt scissors!- was now in a messy bun with the front falling out.

Unlike me, she didn't have a circlet woven into her hair and the constant temptation to rip it out. They may look good, but trust me… after awhile; they become a form of torture!

Artemis still wore her green patrol dress with the stitching to keep it from falling down.

Fae had done her hair in a similar style to mine. All of her hair had been swept back into a pony which had then been braided and now circled her head like a chocolate coloured circlet.

Fae had also altered the dress, putting little embroidered green stars along them hem that could only be seen in the right lighting. Artemis had even been forced into heels for the occasion and was less than happy about it!

Artemis wasn't a very social person, preferring to spend her days reading or on patrol than to be around other people. She had also inherited a little bit of my… hatred of things Fae forced me into as most of them seemed designed to torture me.

Fae pulled us along towards the hall, in a hurry to get things under way.

"Hey! Christmas isn't going anywhere! We have ALL day!" Fae promptly ignored me, muttering under her breath about a schedule to keep. I shot Angel and Artemis a glance and rolled my eyes sarcastically. Angel delicately clamped her hand over her mouth in a desperate attempt not to laugh while Artemis chuckled very quietly.

Fae was a bit of a control freak who very much loved her collection of daggers. My advice…don't get on her bad side!

I lay in my bright pink bath dreaming waterfalls. It's not often I get to say that. Jess had bought me a bath bomb from Lush and I had escaped the feast early to enjoy it, using my head as an excuse.

"Are you going to be in there all day?" Asked Legolas, leaning over to kiss my forehead. I grabbed my robe, stood up and wrapped it around me.

"Does this answer your quest…?" I didn't even get to finish my sentence before Fae burst through the door. "Haven't you ever heard of…? What happened?" Fae's face was ghostly pale and her eyes wide with fear and pain. Tears had escaped her eyes and were now swiftly flowing down her check. I looked into her eyes and saw it all. Fae's worst nightmare.

_~Flashback~_

Fae and Hal were on duty, patrolling the boarder right after lunch. Most thought that it was a waste of time. No one knew we were here so no one would enter. We got an occasional hiker or brave soul they had to deal with, but mostly people thought it was a waste. Hal and Fae knew better. They knew not to leave a boarder unguarded.

"Do you hear that?" Hal asked, tilting his head to the side as he tried to figure out what it was. Fae nodded and moved into position. Fae and Hal worked well together, knowing what the other one was going to do before they did it. Five police vans stopped in front of the clearing and about twenty police formed a lose line. In the centre was Damian.

Damian drew his gun from underneath his jacket and aimed it at the line of trees.

"What are you doing?" The officer next to him was a young guy and looked horrified at the sight of the gun.

"Relax, I'm only gonna give them a fright!" Unfortunately, Hal worked out what was going on faster than Fae.

"NO!" Hal dived in front of Fae, the bullet ripping through his shoulder. The movement had made Fae flinch, the bullet grazing just above her ear instead of hitting her between the eyes. Hal's eyes went wide with pain before he fell with a thud to the ground.

"HAL!" Fae dropped beside him. Hal was obviously still in pain, but had somehow remembered to apply pressure to the wound. Fae gently stroked his face and muttered to him reassuringly. Fae heard the familiar click and the cold, hard gun barrel was placed to Hal's head and he was dragged roughly to his feet.

Damian smiled down at Fae. "Get Katie… Or this one dies."

_~End flashback~_

The flashback was cut off suddenly by Fae's lifeless voice. "They did it. They found you!"

**Hey ya'll! Sorry, I know it's been a while and I really am sorry about the wait. I've had exams and assignments and speech nights and been totally uninspired with an extreme case of writers block. Don't worry. I found a cure. Baths and my cousin! Thanks for everything and I promise I'll have another chapter up before New Year. Merry Christmas and God bless. **

**Lost**


	5. Very Hard Questions

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own LotR or any characters but Katie and Artemis. I also don't have a working knowledge of Australia's legal system, so I apologise if this is nowhere near realistic, but I really am trying! This is entirely fiction and should not be taken literally! I also know nothing about medicine!**

**A/N: Sorry, I know this chapter is late, but there's just been so much going on! Please understand! Also, this chapter was written during Christmas lunch on a party hat, so I really hope you like it!**

Chapter 5- Very Hard Questions- Katie's POV:

I sat in an interview room at the Police Station with two officers and Fiona, a lawyer. The officers were made up of Damian and a girl who only looked about fifteen, even with her curly blond hair done up in a very serious looking bun. The scariest thing was probably the way she was staring at me; focused and unblinking. I also couldn't get a read off her like I could with everyone else. It was like trying to compel a brick wall!

"Please," Fiona begged me, and trust me, she wasn't a begging person! "Speak English. Tell us what happened! I know you're scared, but if you tell us, we'll make sure they can never hurt you again!"

I sighed in defeat and hung my head. We had been at this for hours and my head was killing me. I shouldn't be the only one to suffer. I looked up, smiling evilly and replied in perfect Elvish, "I like cheese!"

Fae's POV:

White light flashed behind my eyes as my head hit the table for the fifteenth time. My interviewer was tall with a deep tan and short black hair. His face was cruel and unshaven and his breath smelled strongly of smoke.

I shouldn't be here! I should be out doing something, not sitting here, being tortured for answers I couldn't give. He would only think me crazy. The only reason they were getting away with this was because they had refused me a lawyer.

"For the last time, I don't know!" My words barely sounded like my own. They were too desperate, too defeated.

A small knock at the door momentarily took the attention away from me. A woman stood in the doorway, with long blonde hair falling around her waist. Her expression was fierce and her body rigid. She looked formally pissed off. It was an amusing thought!

"I request ten minutes alone with my client, off the records!" the man seemed shocked for a second before composing himself, turning off the box in the corner and storming out. The woman came and sat next to me, letting her defences fall and revealing herself.

"T!" I cried, throwing myself into her arms. Tywein pulled away slightly to look at me properly.

"What did he do to you?" She sounded horrified as she inspected the damage done to my face.

"It's nothing. You have to help us! They shot Hal, and they're gonna find out about Katie and…!" Tywein put a finger to my lips.

"Don't worry about Hal; I got to him before this lot did. He's back in Mirkwood. He should be fine in a couple of weeks. A friend of mine increased the compulsion, now; it'll be like hitting a brick wall… for unwanted guests at least. And as for you guys…I'm working on it! My friend is working undercover on the police force. She's interviewing Katie as we speak."

I nodded weakly.

"Ok, now we have to get your story sorted. Your new name is Fiona Parker, married to Harry Parker. Your brothers are now Ethan and Edmund Nott, Katie is Kaitlin Green and your father is Adrian Nott. Legolas is Logan Green and Jess is Jayden Marks and is dating Ethan. Your mother died when you were young. Harry is a security consultant, you're a chef. You're twenty-one years old with your two year old daughter Angel. Oh, and you'll need this."

Tywein handed me the ring Arwen had given me years ago. "Um… Thanks?" Tywein smiled.

"Azara fixed it so that you could relax for a bit, you know, not having to worry about disguising yourself." I nodded and relaxed ever so slightly, feeling my bones snap back into place and then reset differently again as I put the ring on. "I'll get someone to come and stitch you up; I have to check on the others."

I nodded, too tired to do anything else. Tywein half closed the door behind her as she left. Through it, I could hear parts of a conversation. It was something about a break, stitches and "Sewing your ass for police brutality!" I chuckled. I knew I loved Tywein for a reason!

Katie's POV:

I was led roughly down the winding corridors of the police station to a hall with a gate at its entrance and woman sitting behind a desk just outside of it. Azara had somehow managed to get me up to speed in twenty seconds and provide me the best disguise.

As we were walking, I had caught a glimpse of my new face in a window. My hair was shorter and a red-brown mix instead of my usual black and covered my now rounded ears. My eyes were no longer their usual blue, but one was now green and the other brown and they face they rested on looked similar to my own.

"Alright, sign your name and empty your pockets." The woman behind the counter seemed bored and had dark circles under her eyes as though she had been doing this for hours. I knew how she felt! I took the pen ad signed in beautiful curling script 'Kaitlin Green' and stood, smiling up at everyone. "That too, princess!" She laughed, jabbing a stubby finger at my circlet.

"I can't." Everyone looked at me in shock, having at first believed that I spoke no English. "My sister braided it into my hair so only she can get it out. Otherwise, she knows I'll rip it the second her back is turned." They looked at me, gobsmacked for a few seconds.

"Whatever!" She sighed, pushing the button that opened the gate. Inside were about fifty doors, each one had a peep hole that looked inwards and white boards that contained the names and crimes. The first three I saw belonged to my family. Fiona Parker, Logan Green and Adrian Nott were scribbled in rough script on the boards; Fae, Legolas and Ada.

They led me towards the door across from Legolas and opened the door. Now, I've known all my life that I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, but I seriously, how could I not see this one coming? I don't know about you, but when I see a locked off corridor in a police station, I think more interviewing, more ways of trying to get me to talk. So I was very surprised when I found myself faced with a cell.

The cell was only about as big as a queen double bed with a small shelf they called a bed and a toilet. I turned to the guards, desperately attempting to compel my way out of this, but they wouldn't look at me. Azara said it was important to stay, escaping would only prove us guilty. I could handle a life on the run, but not this! Anything but this!

_Hey, it beats being dead!_ My internal Aragorn chimed up happily. Of course he would show up at a time like this. He never passed up the opportunity to make my life harder! I was shoved roughly into the cell and fell in a heap on the ground.

Over the last five thousand years or so, my claustrophobia had gotten better. There was a time when Legolas would have to eat dinner outside with me because the hall gave me head spins. But now, I could be in there for hours at a time with minimal discomfort. But this? This was torture!

I usually had a delayed reaction if I spent too long in enclosed spaces, this was instantaneous. My headache was fast turning into a skull splitting migraine and the walls spun around me. I could feel my lunch rising and the walls closing in. My breath was coming in short, sharp pants and the oxygen felt stale in my throat.

_You really aren't the brightest bulb in the box! Or the sharpest tool in the shed! Or…_

"Shut up!" My voice echoed in the tiny space, not doing much to help my headache. Tears were streaming down my face and pooling on the tiled floor. Then I had a thought, a thought I had not had for five thousand years. This was it. This was the end. This was how I was going to die!

Tywein's POV:

I walked down the corridor to Katie's interview room and found the door wide open and Azara half asleep on the desk.

"Ash! Where's Katie?" Azara was a witch, the only female in her order and they barely recognised her existence being the sexist pigs they were. Her father had been head of the order, but that made no difference to most of them. There was a friend of hers who helped her with her magic, it was only way she learnt. She was very good at what she did and quite powerful, even though she was only fifteen.

They made her run around, doing their dirty work and set her to work as a reaper. And yes, I mean EXACTLY like the grim reaper! Her job was to find humans in need of a …different kind of help. The order specialised in revenge, memory charms, love charms and healings. But everything came at a price. You would owe them a favour and would not rest until you fulfilled it.

So, if you died before they found a use for you, you would linger unable to rest until they did. If you tried to back out of it…let's just say eternity is a very long time to be tortured for!

Each wizard, or in her case witch, also had to specialise in something, an element or charm. The head of the order specialised in compulsion, her friend specialised in earth and Azara specialised in fire and disguise charms.

"She's in the cells!" Azara moaned, still half asleep. My blood ran cold.

"Did you say the cells?" Azara nodded. "SHIT!" I took off down the corridor at full sprint with Azara following behind me. "OPEN THE GATE!" I shouted at the woman behind the desk. She took a step back and tossed me the keys. Was I really that scary?

I raced down the corridor until I found Legolas' cell and hurriedly forced it open, undoing his handcuffs.

Katie's POV:

I've woken up in some pretty strange places in my lifetime…this made the top 10. I was lying on the concrete sidewalk in front of the police station, surrounded by people in paramedic's uniforms with my head in Legolas' lap. My arm was throbbing where they had connected a drip and an oxygen mask covered half of my face.

Legolas smiled down at me and stroked my hair. "Don't ever do that to me again!" I laughed shakily.

"Don't plan on it!" Damian lent over me, examining me thoroughly.

"She's fine. Now if you don't mind, we have a date in court!"

**Hey ya'll! Sorry that it's a relatively short chapter but it had to be to keep my deadline! So, next chapter will just be the court case. Thanks for reading and please review…It makes me write faster! Thanks and I really hope you liked it! Love ya'll**

**Lost! **


	6. Since When is it a Crime to be Sarcastic

**DISCALIMER: Lost doesn't own anyone but Katie, Azara and Artemis. Everyone else was either a creation of Tolkien or has been claimed by a friend. Name translations are from , not my fault if they're wrong. My description of Mirkwood in here is probably not what has been described by Tolkien. Sorry about that! But I've decided to exercise my creative licence and have just done Mirkwood from my own imagination. I only have a basic knowledge of the law, so my courtroom scene isn't correct. Sorry, but I don't want to be a lawyer! Thanks for everything guys, I really hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 6- Since When is it a Crime to be Sarcastic? – Artemis' POV:

I shifted my armour uneasily as I waited for quiet amongst the class. I don't think I can do this! Mum had always made it seem like the easiest thing in the world to control people, but for her, it literally was. I didn't even posses half of my mothers' compulsion skills, but maybe that wasn't how she did it. When she took centre stage, she always looked so confident, so sure of herself.

But that wasn't me. I'd inherited a lot of my mother's bad habits and personality, mainly the sarcasm. But unlike her, I was not a people person. I would even go so far as to say I was anti social. I only had two friends, Angel and Terra who both lived in Lorien.

Angel was my cousin and about a decade older than me. Terra was a human who had been brought in by Galadriel when she was three years old and had since been raised as an elf. She was now 19 and already taller than both Angel and I.

Where were my parents? Were they coming back? Hell, were they even alive? Hal was no help. He had been separated from them and unconscious half of the time. Angel was lucky; at least she had her dad. But I was missing almost my entire family, and constantly black questions crossed my mind. How could this have happened? That I couldn't answer. All I knew was that I was given this situation for a reason, and just had to deal with it as best I could.

"QUIET!" Orophin appeared at the back of the class, making everybody jump and fall into a stunned silence. He was the older of Haldir's brothers and not too dissimilar to Hal himself. He was tall and silent, but like my other uncles, a 'famous flirt who specialised in annoyance' as my mother put it. Not that she could talk.

"Right." I tried to keep the fear out of my voice as I addressed the anxious crowd. "As many of you know, our instructors have now been missing for three days and no one can tell us where they are." This caused more unease in the crowd, though they had more common sense than to interrupt with Orophin around. I sighed and started my well rehearsed lie. "They've disappeared for a reason. This is all a test. They want to see what we would do without them. Organised chaos."

The class seemed to relax at this. I sighed in relief. Mum had always said that a crowd of people were like a herd of wild animals. If they panicked, there was no gaining control of them again. Occasionally, you had to lie through your teeth and be prepared to suffer the consequences to keep control of a bad situation. I drew my sword and wished desperately that I could believe as they did.

Katie's POV:

I sat in the witness box with the judge on my right, the jury on my left and in front of me lay the back of the court room. Tywein was a miracle worker! Now, she represented me and my family and Fiona Gardiner would be trying to prove my identity.

Each of my family had been given a notepad and had to listen to my story and reflect on it in their own way without slipping up. This would defiantly not be the easiest thing we'd ever done. I was used to relying on my compulsion skills to get me out of sticky situations, but not this time. Tywein couldn't afford a slip up, and me, bending people to my will would defiantly raise suspicions.

Azara was keeping up my disguise as best she could, but disguise charms were far from easy. I was not a full elf, or a half elf for that matter. I was trapped somewhere between two states, neither one nor the other but a perfect blend of both. Artemis was a full elf, which made absolutely no sense to me, but was apparently nothing to worry about.

Aragorn had been like me for a couple of years after his change, but soon changed into a full elf and could now disguise himself, sleep with his eyes open and sleep on the move, three things I longed to do. I guess it was easier for him to leave his old life behind, considering that he was moving out of the era of everyone he loved and it helped that most of his old life was the same as his life now.

It was harder for me. I had gone back, starting a completely new life and had to live knowing that my family were still to come, that I would have to deal with them again and could never really move on. That was the hardest thing, having to live through them again and watch them all die around me.

Galadriel had tried to explain it. Something about two hearts and two intertwined souls all working as one. The human me, fighting the elf me for control, but the elf me always won, always slightly stronger. She had also tried to explain my internal Aragorn.

Apparently, Aragorn was who I most linked with reason and sensible ideas and was acting as a subconscious guide, paying attention for me, driving me crazy, getting me out of sticky situations and always giving me a hard time. This was because of my change. I now did everything with my immortal soul, but my mortal one needed a voice too. Aragorn had just been too good, that was his problem. This all could have been avoided if he didn't have to make sense, and be right all the time!

If this was true, that meant that Aragorn had an internal Aragorn... well, his was probably Arwen, but same difference. Was his as annoying as mine? How would you stand it? I often took out my frustration at my internal Aragorn on the real one, how hard would it be if I had to see him every day, sleep in the same bed as him. It would be torture. Poor Arwen!

There was one good thing I was looking forward to. I literally had two souls inside of me, one immortal and the other capable of death. Once the mortal soul died, I would be a full elf, no longer stuck in the middle with an annoying voice...

_Hey, I take offence!_

_No one asked you! _I countered.

A voice drew me back to the real world...if you could call it that. Tywein and Fiona stood behind two separate desks each with their left hand raised.

"Council, please state your names." The Judge who sat next to me was a darker skinned woman in her mid forties with her black hair done tightly in a bun. She looked like she could do with a few more hours sleep, but didn't seem to be in too bad a mood.

"Fiona Gardiner, representing Damian and Rebecca Mason." Fiona looked flustered as she always did, but today, she looked nervous and her eyes begged for a stiff drink. I stared in shock at my mother who stared sadly back, her eyes silently pleading my forgiveness. I nodded and gave her a weak smile, but it was enough.

"Tessa Alakov." Tywein's face was hard and cold as winter as her eyes met Fiona's. Jess gasped slightly and started glaring at Tywein, but she either didn't notice or didn't care...maybe both! "Representing Fiona and Harry Parker, Kaitlin and Logan Green, Adrian, Ethan and Edmund Nott and Jayden Marks." The judge nodded and Tywein sat, quickly turning to Jess. "We'll talk about this later!"

Fiona approached me, stating my name and her case to the jury. "Katie!" She smiled, making her look like a Barbie doll. "May I call you Katie?" I glared at her.

"No. You can call me Kaitlin or Mrs Green...Your pick!" Fiona stared, shocked for a second before recovering.

"Right. Ok. How do you know these people?" She waved a hand in the general direction of my family. Behind them sat Azara, who gave me a weak smile. She looked exhausted! I could see her lips moving in a blur and her whole face looked worn, pale and sweaty. She was so busy trying to do...whatever she was doing that her wall was lowered and I could finally get a peak at her mind.

Azara's mind was unlike anyone's I'd ever seen. The words she spoke echoed in my head and strange images flashed behind my eyes. Ingredients floated by in a stream, mixing themselves into various healing ointments, books floated by, some open and some closed, but all of them packed with magic. There were too many things happening in there! It was starting to give me a headache.

Pushing through all the useless junk- or at least, useless to me- I found the section that contained what she was thinking right now. The spell had worn off my bracelet and she was now struggling to keep up my defence. She may specialise in fire and disguise charms, but even this was a big ask; having to maintain a complete disguise on a total stranger, knowing that if you failed she had no way of defending herself, not to mention tampering with the evidence! Tywein asked too much of the poor girl. If she didn't stop soon she was going to faint. "Stop!" I willed her. "I'll be fine. Just keep up the evidence and I'll survive."

I hated this. For the first time in my new life, I felt completely helpless. This wasn't a problem I could compel my way out of, or fight my way out of. They knew where I lived and had the only people that made this life worth living under lock and key. It was pointless to try anything. They had me, and there was only one thing left I could do.

_Oh no! Please no! Very bad idea Katie! No! No! No! _My internal Aragorn appeared, on time as always to mock and annoy me.

_What? You got a better plan?_

Faelwen's POV:

"How do you know these people?" Fiona question Katie, waving a hand dismissively in our general direction. Katie just sat, staring at us for a moment. Well, not really at us, more behind us. I turned and saw Azara, looking pale and exhausted, my ears just catching her muttered spell. "Kaitlin?" I turned to see Fiona looking worriedly and a spaced out Katie, no doubt going through Azara's mind.

I saw a glint of consciousness in her eyes, quickly turning to a glint of mischief. Oh no! This will not end well!

"Well, it's my brothers, sister, sister-in-law, husband and father." Before our eyes, part of her disguise dropped away. Her hair turned back to its usual shade of black and her ears elongating into a delicate point. What the hell was she doing? I turned and looked at the rest of my family, hoping they'd know, but they all seemed just as shocked and clueless as me.

I turned to Azara. Why had she done that? Wasn't secrecy the number one aim here? Was she trying to blow this? Azara was sighing with relief and looked a lot less stressed than she had a few moments before. She caught my eye and looked very, very ashamed. "Sorry," she muttered just loud enough for us to hear. "I couldn't keep it up. Katie said she'd be fine." I nodded and turned back to the court room.

"Do you have any proof of this?" Fiona had started pacing in front of Katie, every click of her shoe making Katie's eye twitch. Pacing was the second most annoying thing if you were Katie...Ceildë's wine was the first! Katie smiled sarcastically.

"Sorry, I don't take my birth certificate to the bath! I'll be sure to remember that for next time!" Fiona glared at her. "What? Since when is it a crime to be sarcastic? Why, if it were, Ethan would have spent his whole life in prison!" The judge slammed a little wooden hammer down a few times on a block, the noise echoing painfully around the room.

"Show council some respect!" Katie rolled her eyes, making the judge turn a lovely shade of tomato red and I swear I could see steam coming out of her ears.

"Why? She shows me none!" Tywein sunk lower in her chair in front of me, cringing with every word. "That man..." Katie shoved her finger at Damian. "Has ruined my life! It was my little girls' first Christmas...and I was arrested because he is on some insane quest to find a dead girl! Just because he won't admit it! We all know she is! Hands up everyone who thinks he needs to get a life." She raised her own hand as did Elladan, Elrohir, Jess, Ada and myself. "For crying out loud! Just build a bridge and get over it, don't ruin other people's lives just so you can be in denial!" Damian stared at her, gaping.

"How did you know they found a body?" His voice was rough and shaken as though he couldn't believe that she was so un-sensitive. I didn't blame him...but she had every right in what she said. Damian was acting on impulse and didn't care who got hurt in the process. Jess sat next to me, her face a sickly shade of green.

"I don't live in a cave...well, maybe I do! But I'm not oblivious to the world around me!" Damian glared at Katie.

"You know what? I don't care anymore! Just go!" Damian waved his hand at the door, his eyes sad but still retaining their anger. Fiona glared angrily at him. This was her first case, and everyone seemed to be blowing it. "You are my sister, I know that in my heart, but, if this is how you are now...just go." Katie stood from the stand, wiping away a tear.

"I'd like to think that your sister wouldn't want anything to do with you either!" And with that she stormed out of the court room and Jess threw up all over Damian's shoes.

Jessica's POV:

We'd gotten back to Mirkwood about an hour ago, and I'd been stuck in the infirmary ever since. Apparently, elves don't get sick, so for me to throw up? Now everyone was fussing over me and Elladan refused to leave my side. Right now, I didn't really care. I just want to get out of here. I've been waiting for years to rip chunks out of my mother. She'd just left me. No explanation, no goodbye. I just woke up one day, and she was gone. Now, I had to wait till they cleared me to go.

Ceildë was smirking at me from the corner of the room, and it was really starting to piss me off. Beside her stood my mother, now dressed in a beautiful green gown. The dress it's self was a blue-green colour with gold trim and a belt of emeralds around her waist, holding a beautiful silver sword decorated with diamonds and amethyst; hers' and my birthstones. The sleeves were split in two places. The first split ran from her shoulder to her elbow where the fabric was held around her arm by a golden band. After the band, the dress split again, making big, flowing sleeves that moved with her body.

"Elladan? Don't you have somewhere to be?" Ceildë's voice was sweet with a dangerous undertone. I didn't doubt for a second that she could rip me to pieces... or at least _arrange_ to have me ripped to pieces. Elladan began to refuse, looking angrily between her and Elrond. Elrond gave a sharp nod, motioning for Elladan to leave. Elladan jumped angrily to his feet and stormed out of the room, muttering something about this being total bullshit.

With Elladan now gone, Elrond fixed his gaze one me, making me shrink in my chair like a naughty child. "You will tell him, won't you?" I stared in shock. Was nothing private around here? Elrond gave me a small, sad smile. I guess that was my answer.

"Why should I?" My voice was cold and accusing. "What good will it do? He'll only hate me." Elrond arched an eyebrow.

"Believe me, he'd never hate you!"

Mum dragged me into my room, locking the door behind us. Her face was hard to read, but her eyes shone with something that was a mix between hatred and anger. Mum sat stone faced on the bed in front of me, obviously in no hurry. Did she even care I hated her? I doubted it.

I crossed my arms across my chest and leant against the dresser. I'd waited for this for thirteen years, a couple more minutes wouldn't kill me...I hope. Mum smiled...which was kind of scary.

"I've missed you. I know you may not think that, but I need to say my piece before you start ripping chunks out of me. I never wanted to leave, but there was only so much I could ask of Steven. His daughter was only nine! I couldn't steal him from his family. Someone would notice when I didn't age a day, and I wanted your life to be better than that." I could only stare in silence for a moment.

"I was only twelve! But why no goodbye? You just left! I woke up and you were gone. I've spent the last thirteen hating you, don't expect that the noble intentions act's gonna fix that! Who's Steven? And why the hell couldn't you disguise yourself like the rest of us?" Tears were starting to well in my eyes, but whether they were angry or sad. To my surprise, Tywein's eyes mirrored my own.

"It takes a lot out of you, you know that! Every day I regret what I did to you, but I have to keep reminding myself that it for the best. You're the only reason I stay, the only reason I haven't died of a broken heart. I tried to protect you, I really did, but it still wasn't enough. Death came in a form I never thought of: Love. We were fine before he came along. You were going to die with him! Steven is...was a good friend of mine, a wizard. I made him erase your memory, made you think you were human and left you to the keeping of Damian and Ben."

"Why Damian?" This was the question that hurt the most. I'd loved Damian, given him everything I had, but he didn't want me. "Why him?" My mother looked sad and thoughtful.

"I thought family was supposed to look after family, that your very great nephew would keep you safe until you were ready, until you'd forgotten him and I could undo the magic. Steven died, the magic started to fade, so it didn't help when Damian got himself killed. I left you too long because I was scared. I had to find another who could pick up where Steven left off, and that's when I found Azara. She's working on returning some of your memory."

I could only stare for a second in total shock, something I seemed to be doing a lot lately. My words came out slowly and on the brink of hysteria. "How much of my life has been a lie?" Mum sighed.

"All of it. You never went to primary school, high school. You never loved Damian, Ben's not your father. Everything." This took a moment for me to process.

"I'm not sure I understand." Tywein stood up and left the room, tuning as she got to the door way.

"Soon enough, you will."

I raced around the corridors looking for Azara. She would give me the answers I was looking for. The only problem was, Azara was a master of disguise and could be anybody, not to mention the size of Mirkwood would take me forever to find her. Ok, I guess that's two problems.

"Azara?" My voice echoed through the corridors, earning me some strange looks, but I didn't care.

"Over here!" A small, bubbly voice chirped behind me in one of the courtyards. A girl that I could only guess was Azara sat in front of a huge stone statue that looked too life-like for comfort. She was wearing what I could only describe as a pirate costume with her long auburn curls flowing out behind her.

The outfit itself had a black hat with a white skull and cross-bones with a collection of yellow, green and blue feathers sticking out the top. The shirt was lemon yellow with a big ruffled circular collar and ruffled sleeves, decorated around the edges with purple embroidery and tied at the waist with a scrap of red rope, decorated at the end with little golden bells. The skirt was two layers, the first more like a red and black striped sarong that revealed the ruffled, white, lacy skirt which she coupled with black, high-heeled boots.

Azara's eyes were a frosty blue, glazed over as if she were deep in thought. When she spoke, her voice was musical yet dreamy. All in all, she looked to be in a trance. "Not many people know about this courtyard, and even fewer are allowed in it." I'd been so busy studying her that the sound of her voice made me jump.

For the first time, I really examined the courtyard. It was circular with flowerbeds around the outside edges and a stone wall with a small ledge to keep the garden back but also doubling as a seat. A stone path circled around the statue that had first caught my eye and reached all the way to the roof... if you could call it that. It was full of holes, but not in the rundown kind of way...it was elegantly designed and I was certain a lot of time and effort had gone into it. It was actually quiet pretty. It made the afternoon light shine in, casting patterns across everything in view. It reminded me a lot of the main corridor and was probably made of the same roots.

You couldn't see the clearing from the corridor, not even if you looked. It just looked like another corridor. The castle was a big stone cave with the hill and trees that grew on top hiding it from above. The roots from the trees then came down on either side, making part of the structure. At the front, the roots formed a beautiful window-like barrier between you and the sharp drop towards the river where we got our water from. At the back, the roots formed a lovely natural stable looking over a lake.

The statue was made of a hard grey stone and had wilted flowers at the feet as though it were a grave. The statue contained ten people, only two of which I recognised; Katie and Legolas. The plaque at the foot read: "The Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf the White, Boromir of Gondor, Katie Mason, Legolas Thrandulion, Aragorn son of Arathorn, Gimli son of Gloin, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Merriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took. Ten brave souls who defied evil and risked their lives for all."

"What is this place?" the beauty took my breath away, but there was something about this place that could not make it happy. It had as much cheer as a graveyard and had an aurora of guilt that nothing could lift. Azara smiled creepily. How she could smile here was beyond me.

"This is Katie's courtyard. She had it built before all her friends died. She doesn't come here too often. It brings back too many memories." How did she know all this? "She feels terrible that she lives on while they died. You know how Katie is, never letting anyone get to her and very few people get close. She feels that she was horrible to them, and now she can't make that better. She comes here to be alone, to think, to cry and mourn her friends, but mostly, she comes here so no one knows just how bad it is."

I looked up at the statue sadly, blinking as my eyes rested on the face of Boromir...my father. Azara recognised the glint in my eyes. "Congratulation Herenya, you're starting to remember." I stared in silence for a moment. Herenya meant wealthy, it was the elvish equivalent of Jessica. I'd always wondered at my mother's choice.

"Thank you Azara." Azara nodded and waved her hand in front of her face, laughing with delight as a cluster of white butterflies spread from her fingertips. She held her hand palm up and watched them all flutter to a rest, taking a big breath and blowing the gently at me, giggling as some landed in my hair.

I don't know how she did it, but she made me happy. She made me feel like a child again, exploring the world for the first time. I hesitantly reached out, hoping to catch a butterfly on my finger, jumping slightly as it popped like a bubble, the others quickly following suite. Azara placed a hand over her heart and pulled from her chest a huge ruby in the shape of a heart. I couldn't help but smile. It was beautiful. Azara smiled with me, her hand bouncing as she laughed. The heart slipped from her grasp and shattered into a million pieces as it hit the floor.

For some reason, the sight of it made me want to cry. Azara looked like she was for a second before another smile spread across her face. She held one hand flat with the palm up, the other one gently coaxing the shattered pieces to rise an d fit themselves back together. Azara kissed her little cracked heart and rubbed it slightly, turning it towards me so I could see the bandaid with a little red love heart in the centre. We both smiled and Azara eased it back into her chest, looking into my eyes for a long moment.

"You have somewhere more important to be doing than playing with me. You should go, and good luck. Trust Elrond." I gave her a sharp nod and turned to leave. "Jess!" her voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

She had a way with me, and I'm guessing my mother too. If she said something, I had to listen. She was just so innocent, so childish, so happy that you couldn't help but love her. "You can write letters too!" She waved her hand and a large draw with a few scattered papers opened at the very bottom of the statue. "I'm sending mine to Gandalf. I'm going to try to send it beyond the grave. I'm sure your father would love to hear from you. I know he'd be proud!" I nodded and continued on my way. Now for the hard bit. Now, I had to Elladan the truth. I sighed and wished that Azara was coming with me. I had the feeling we'd need happy where I was going!

Azara's POV:

_Dear Gandalf,_

_My name is Azara Douglas. Do you know my father? I think he is in the same place as you. His name is Steven Douglas. If you know him, please tell him Azara and Paul say hello and that they love him and miss him very much. I'm a friend of Tywein's. Thank you for keeping her safe. I know some of your friends wanted to hurt her for what she did, but she didn't know, and now she is my best friend. I don't even know if this will reach you, it is kind of an experiment you see. I found a spell in one of my father's old books for sending messages beyond the grave and thought it might be worth a try. I probably would have sent one straight to my father, but here is not the place. This is Katie's place. Did you know she built a statue of all of you together? She comes here to cry and say sorry for all the things she did wrong. She writes you letters and leaves you flowers. Maybe if this works, I can send you Katie's letters. If you are reading this, I need your need your help, please. I'm a witch, if you had not already guessed and the only female in the order. If it were not for my brother, Paul, I would not be able to learn magic at all. They think that magic is just for men, but I don't think that is fair. To pay for my tuition, I have to work part time as a reaper. I hate taking people's souls away from them. I do not know what to do. Please write back ASAP!_

_Love always your biggest fan,_

_Azara Douglas_

I smiled and licked the envelope, labelling the return address as "Katie's Courtyard, Mirkwood Palace, Mirkwood" and adding a small wax seal in the impression of a butterfly. I turned it over and addressed it "Wherever the wind takes you." I kissed it quickly for good luck before concentration all my energy on moving that envelope. Not making it twitch, not flying a metre and dropping. No, this one was going to a place few return from...death.

I watched in awe as the wind picked it up, carrying it due with good speed. "Please write back!" I called after it. The statue stirred beside me as the one labelled Peregrin Took shot me a smile. "Everything's gonna be alright Pippin!"

Jessica's POV:

I knocked nervously on Elladan's door, not bothering to wait for a reply. Elladan was pacing around the confines of his room, occasionally slashing at a piece of furniture with his sword as he passed.

"Elladan?" I asked, scared that I might be the next thing to be slashed in half if I broke his concentration. That would really spoil my week! Elladan jumped towards the sound, pointing his sword dangerously close to my throat. A flash of realisation flashed in his eyes. Immediately, he dropped his sword to the ground and wrapped me in a hug.

I sighed and pulled away slightly, saying the five most dreaded words in whatever language. "Elladan, we need to talk!"

**Hey Ya'll! Sorry it's taken so long but I've been really busy! I really hope you like it! Please review!**


	7. Revenge is IceCream!

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own LotR or any of its characters. Any music or quotes I may use don't belong to me. I can't be bothered to keep doing disclaimers... you know the drill!**

**Chapter 7-Revenge is Ice-Cream! Katie's POV:**

Everything around me was pitch dark and for the first time in a while I felt truly cold. Not again! I'd been having a lot of weird dreams lately, so why had I expected a break? Being in prison really took a lot out of you...don't try it!

We'd gotten back sometime last night, and Artemis had spent the whole night crying into my shoulder. We'd really scared the crap out of her, but she'd managed. She was a lot like me in that sense; she got the job done.

Now the whole class thought that our disappearance was a test. I think she got the brains from her father, I would have probably given them some feeble excuse about them being busy and we just had to get along without them for a while.

My eyes searched the darkness for any sign of movement of even an object. A small pinprick of light would be a comforting sign, but no, it was just solid darkness. I took a step forward, listening to the echo my feet made. It sounded as if I was in an empty marble room.

A voice that had no clear source began to echo around me, giving me the slightest sensation that I was falling.

"_Forget his name. Forget is face. Forget his kiss, his warm embrace." _ The voice sounded strangely familiar, but I couldn't pin it down.

"Who are you?" I could hear my own voice echo through the darkness, knowing it was pointless to try. But when had that ever stopped me? "What do you want?"

"_Forget the love that you once knew. Remember he has someone new. Forget him when they play your song. Remember crying all night long. Forget how close you once were. Remember he has chosen her. Forget how you memorised his walk. Forget the way he used to talk. Forget the things he used to say. Remember he has gone away. Forget his laugh. Forget his grin. Forget the dimples on his chin. Forget the way he held you tight. Remember he's with her tonight. Forget the time that went so fast. Forget the love that moved. It's past. Forget he said he'd leave you never. Remember he has gone forever."_

The floor seemed to drop out from underneath my feet, making me spiral wildly downwards and out of control. With a small thump I landed on something soft. I cautiously opened my eyes, discovering it was Legolas' armchair that had broken my fall. I smiled and turned my eyes towards the noise. What I saw almost killed me, then and there.

On the bed lay Legolas, completely naked, and beside him lay a figure with curly auburn hair, also naked. Before my eyes, Legolas took her face between both his hands, leaning down to kiss her just like he had to me for 5000 years. I clutched my hand to my heart, feeling it shatter inside my chest. I choked back a sob letting the tears spill down my face. The pain was so intense it brought me to my knees.

Azara looked over her shoulder at me, an innocent smile on her face. "Hello Katie!"" Her voice was bubbly, not caring the pain that she caused me, acting as if this were completely natural.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I barley recognised the sound of my own voice as I forced it from my throat. It was completely broken and detached. Azara's smile turned cold and her eyes frosty, her hair straightening and clothes rematerialising on her body. She stood from the bed, walking slowly and menacingly towards me.

"What does it look like we're doing? Come on Katie, how thick can you be?" I glared accusingly, earning me a small, bubbly laugh. "You're the same old thing Katie. Can you blame him for wanting something new? Every day, he wakes up to you. Same old face, same old routine, same old bitch! But me? I can be whoever he wants me to be!"

To prove her point, her hair bleached itself platinum blond and her eyes a steely grey. She shot up before me, her hand easily reaching the ceiling and her body folded in on itself slightly, making her look so thin that I was sure she would blow away in the wind. All in all, she looked like a modern version of Ceildë. Her words cut in a way she couldn't imagine.

I caught Legolas' eye. "How could you do this to me? How could you do this to Artemis?" Azara smiled again and Artemis ran into the room, not giving Legolas time to answer.

"Mummy!" She broke out in a run towards Azara and me, tears streaming down her face. I reached for her; she was all I had left. Artemis met my eyes and stepped back in fright, burying her face into Azara's hip. "Mummy, who is that?" My heart exploded in pain that consumed me, it was everything, so potent I could see it, smell it, and taste it. So this is what it felt like to die of a broken heart.

Legolas' POV:  
I was woken by a sharp slap to the face. Damn, Katie must be dreaming again. I forced my heavy eyelids open, it's not like I'd be getting anymore sleep anyway. I didn't blame, her dreams scared the crap out of me! I rolled over and put my arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me. At my touch, she flinched slightly, a sob catching in her throat.

Her hand flew to her heart, her nails ripping at the flesh and a blood curdling scream ripped through the silent night air. I grabbed her hand in mine, trying to minimise the damage, but it was pointless. She seemed determined to separate her heart from her body. "Shhh, Katie. It's going to be ok. Come on. You need to wake up. Shhh. It's ok." I soothed as best I could, but it seemed to do nothing.

"She can't hear you." Azara's voice floated from the doorway, making me jump. She had a habit of doing that. Her outfit was what really caught my attention. When Katie had first arrived, her choice of attire had amazed many, thinking it was odd and revealing. If only they could see Azara now. She wore a green shirt that was so short and tight I wasn't sure if you could still call it that.

The shirt ended just below her breasts, leaving her entire stomach bare and sleeves to the elbow decorated with gold trim. The skirt was black with a yellow hem along the bottom and a red cloth, embroidered with golden flowers tied about her waist. "She's in a trance." I shot her a strange look, one I'm sure she received often.

Azara smiled and sat on the bed beside Katie. "It's another wizard, a dream- walker, quite dangerous. I can sense him." She laid her hand on Katie's forehead, quickly pulling it away as though it pained her. "She's running a fever. How long have these dreams been going on?"

I shrugged. Elves didn't get fevers...what the hell was going on? "A couple of weeks." I ran my hand through her sweat mattered hair, not knowing whether it was supposed to comfort me or her. Azara looked sad for a moment.

"He's though tormenting her; he's had enough of that. Now he's looking for something more serious...he's trying to kill her!" Azara's voice was completely calm and lacking emotion. Apparently this was a daily occurrence for her. Maybe it was, but me...not so much. If it were possible, I think I would have fainted.

Azara placed her hand back on Katie's forehead, closing her eyes and concentrating. "He's an old boyfriend of hers... he knows about the elves...friends with Damian...oh shit! He knows about me to! Great, as if we didn't have enough problems...he's trying to break her heart...of course he had to use me!" Her jabber made little sense to me, but all that mattered was that it made sense to her. "Legolas, I'm warning you now, when she wakes up she's going to be scared, nothing is going to make sense except what she just saw. She might explode at us, but just hang in there. Ok?"

I nodded. As long as she as alive I could cope. Azara closed her eyes again, moving her lips in quick, inaudible speech, even for me. Katie's tear filled eyes fluttered open, meeting mine. She wordlessly threw herself into my embrace, crying into my shoulder. Azara stood up, trying to be quite and out of sight, but Katie was so worked up she could have sensed a leaf fall from its branch at the other end of the hall.

Her eyes shot daggers at Azara, her sobs instantly becoming hysterical. "Get out! Now! Get out! GET OUT!" Azara looked hurt, but knew better than to argue...too much.

"Katie, you know that wasn't real. You know I would never... Legolas would never!" Katie's eyes were filled with hatred and said more than her words ever could. Azara nodded and left the room, still looking a little sad. The second the door closed, Katie threw herself into my arms, trying to keep herself from crying. I raised an eyebrow and Katie sighed.

"Just shut up and kiss me."

Jessica's POV:

I woke to the sound of a soft tapping and instantly wished I hadn't. Everything hurt. No joke. I swear I could feel my hair throbbing. Just being awake hurt. I screwed up my face and pulled my body into a ball. Immediately the tapping stopped and I felt a hand on my waist.

"Are you ok?" Elladan's voice was faint and his face chalky white. If it weren't impossible, I'm sure he would have fainted.

"Well, I'm considering suicide. What about you?" Elladan nodded weakly, his face hard and grim. I sighed. "You don't have to stick around Elladan, frankly, I don't expect you to!" Elladan opened his mouth to protest before I cut him off. "I'm the only one who has to stick around; it's kind of hard if I don't! Damian sure as hell didn't and I don't blame you if you want to go. But you need to tell me now! You can't just walk out halfway through. All or nothing."

"I'm in." Elladan pinched the bridge of his nose, a slight bit of colour returning to his face. "I'm scared shitless, but I'm in." I raised an eyebrow. "Just tell me how I can help."

I rolled my shoulders, trying to shake off the awkward feeling. "You can relax." Elladan shot me a puzzled look that looked completely out of place. "You're making me nervous!"

Katie's POV:

I pulled my dress back up into place from where it had fallen down, wincing slightly as the material settled on my bloody chest. Who knew my nails could be a weapon...and I barely had nails! Imagine the damage Fae could do! Legolas pulled me back onto the bed by my waist, making me land partially on his naked chest. I rolled over, laughing and kissed him on the nose.

"I'd better go apologise to Azara." I rolled off the bed and made my way towards the door. It was only about three in the morning, so I was just hoping I hadn't woken too many people up. Behind me, Legolas pulled the quilt over his head, trying to go back to sleep so he would be ready for practice. He could sleep on the go, but me...not so much! I guess he'd just gotten into the habit. Artemis actually slept to, as did Fae, Hal, Angel and Jess. I guess it was just a matter of preference.

It took me roughly twenty minutes to find Azara...well; I was in the process of giving up when I found her. She seemed to like the courtyard I had built. I didn't go there very often; it brought back too many painful memories, too many what 'what if's and 'if only's.'

What if I had put my pride aside and told them how much I needed them? How much I loved them all. They took me in and I was an absolute bitch. Fae, Legolas and Galadriel had spent the last 5000 years telling me that it wasn't my fault I was having trouble readjusting to life, that they knew I loved them, that telling them that wouldn't have saved them from death, only made it harder on me. But how could that be true?

I wasted the precious time I had with them. When we should have been getting along, I was arguing and insulting them. I hadn't done that for years, so why did I start again? To me, being dead wasn't an excuse. I guess I'd learnt that from the restaurant I'd worked at. Mr Figgs had always said:_ Ya'll better show on time, or so help me God, I will kick you out on your ass so hard you'll feel it for a week! Being sick, busy or dead is not an excuse!_

I chuckled at the memory. He wasn't a bad boss...unless you showed up late...then he was downright scary. He was all bark and no bite. I'd shown up late to just about every shift and I'd somehow managed to keep the job for almost two years.

"Katie?" A nervous voice made me jump. Ok, so maybe Azara had found me, but whatever! Azara was still wearing her belly dancer outfit, which I had to admit looked amazing on her!

"Hey Az! Look, I'm sorry about before...I know that wasn't real." Azara nodded, a little bit of colour returning to her face. Her eyes radiated fear. She was scared of me? She could floor me in ten seconds flat! Azara smiled before wrapping me in a hug. When she pulled away, her face was deadly serious and her eyes filled with a strange light.

"I know who's doing this to you. Those dreams, aren't just your imagination, they're not meaningless. Someone's been tormenting you, making you afraid, finding all your weaknesses and last night, he tried to kill you. I only got a quick look at him, to attack you, he had to open himself up. He's like me, a wizard...but he's fully trained. I think he might be an elder, they're almost impossible to defeat! You...used to date him? And something about a war. He's tired of being on the bottom."

I could only blink at her for a second. None of this made any sense! Azara was the first Istari I'd met in centuries, how could I have dated one? Not to mention the fact that I was married! There must be some mistake, but the look on Azara's face told me she had left no room for error. Also, why would one of them want to kill me? I mean, I know that I piss a lot of people off, but who would actually try to kill me? This was making my head spin.

"_Remember what I said?"_ My internal Aragorn questioned.

"_Oh joy! I really couldn't have waited another second without your advice. Tell me almighty voice of reason!"_ I could feel my internal Aragorn scowling at me, his non-existent eyes glaring daggers. Apparently he didn't like me being sarcastic.

"_If you can't defeat your enemy asleep, how can you expect to defeat him awake? Being asleep evens the playing field, you just have to learn to use it." _ I ignored him, shifting my gaze back to Azara, who now had a glazed over expression.

Suddenly her gaze focused on me, her face taking on an amused expression. "Isn't hearing voices the first sign of madness?" Her expression told me she was only joking, but something about her choice of words didn't feel right. I laughed in return.

"Yeah. And I think talking back is the second!" Azara chuckled, her laughter halting abruptly and her face once again becoming serious. It really didn't suit her. I mean, Legolas had told me about Elladan threatening him while dressed up as Santa. This was kind of like that. With the crazy auburn curls and the colourful belly dancers costume, it just didn't look right!

"He's got a point you know!" I could only stare shocked at her. She was agreeing with my internal Aragorn? I tried unsuccessfully to block out his annoying 'I told you so' chants of victory. "I'm no dream walker, but, if I can help, I will!"

Azara had disappeared about ten minutes ago, doing what, one could only guess. I was sitting in my courtyard, playing with the paper in my hand. It was kind of a tradition of mine. Every time I was here, I wrote letters to my dead friends. I knew that they'd never actually read them, but it made me feel better.

I don't know what I'd do if these got out. I'd spent the last five thousand years gaining the reputation of a big, bad elven lady; I couldn't let people know I was soft. That was how you got hurt. It may not be the best strategy, but it's the only one I have. If you didn't let people get to you, you wouldn't get to them either and then it always made the goodbye easier.

Azara wandered back into the courtyard, her face still set in a serious expression. Her auburn curls were now tied back in a messy bun and she wore a black karate outfit with little woolly sheep that literally danced around her sleeves. Why was she wearing her pyjamas?

"I need to be completely relaxed for this to work. I can't generate a dream of my own, but I can copy the one you had earlier." A pillow materialised on the ground next to me and another one under her arm. "Let's do this!"

For the second time today, I felt like I was falling into oblivion with no hope of ever being seen again, before crashing into Legolas' favourite chair. This time, I knew what was coming...but I also knew that that would not make it hurt any less. For the second time today, I saw Azara and Legolas, kissing and for the second time my heart wanted to shatter.

"Be strong Katie!" Azara's voice whispered at the back of my mind. "Remember, you're just as powerful as he is. You can make anything happen! You have to break the dream to get to the source of it. Once you reach me, you'll be just as powerful and have an equal chance of taking me down. Good luck, and shout when you want to stop." I nodded and bit back my tears.

"It's not real." I reminded myself. "It's just Azara trying to mess with me." The Azara that lay in front of me turned around, her eye cold eyes meeting mine.

"You're just the same old thing. Same old face. Same old bitch." Her words barely registered as I stood from the floor, my hands and legs shaking. Everything was cold under her stare, and no hope of warmth seemed existent.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Azara had only told me to rip the dream apart, she never said how. So, now I was resorting to the only way I knew. I reached down the back of my nightdress and pulled out my two blades. Azara's eyes opened wide in fear and she took a small step back towards Legolas, looking for protection. I struck forward, my arm in autopilot. My right hand blade hit her in the back of the neck, making her freeze for a moment before she fell to dust on the ground.

Legolas looked at me sympathetically. Azara was dead, why wasn't the dream shattering?

"All of it Katie," Azara guided me again. "No matter how much it hurts!" What? This wasn't part of the deal! How could I kill him. Legolas. No. He wasn't Legolas. I had to keep reminding myself of that or I couldn't do it. All's fair in love and war, and this Legolas was about to get his arse kicked!

"Katie, please!" His voice broke as he looked at what used to be Azara. "I'm sorry I hurt you, but why can't you just be happy for me? You can't kill me, you still love me. But Katie, you have to understand, I don't love you anymore, and nothing you do or say can change that!"

I took in a deep breath and wiped the angry tears from my face. "There is something that changes that." Legolas looked at me, confused and slightly scared. "You're not real! You're a test! I don't love you! I love Legolas! The **real** Legolas! I'm sorry." I drove my blade under his rib cage, my heart almost shattering inside me. His face was a mixture of hurt and betrayal.

"_You're doing so well Katie."_ I was expecting this to be Azara again, but no, I was getting praise from someone who sounded like my internal Aragorn.

"_Um...who are you and what have you done with my Aragorn? You never praise me! You sick or something?" _I was met by a small chuckle.

"_Well, maybe I just realised how stupid it is to hate yourself. After all, you are me...aren't you?" _This time I laughed. A tiny brown head brought me back to my dream. Artemis stood before me, her face twisted in a cruel snarl. She held in her hands a shiny, Mithril sword better than I'd ever seen her do before. I was so proud the sight brought tears to my eyes.

"K-a-tie!" Azara's voice echoed around my head, sounding like bad radio static. "H-e's high-jacking the dream. Can'-t con-trol it. Hel-p!"

I looked back down at Artemis. Her eyes held a knowledge far beyond her years. This was no longer Azara, I didn't know who this was. But the one thing I did know was that they'd stop at nothing to see me dead. Still in autopilot, my arm moved to block her strike, taking the defensive out of habit.

"Artemis, I don't want to hurt you." That at least was true, but there was no other way. I had to save Azara and myself before it was too late. My other arm came in, aiming for her stomach. She had the advantage and she knew it! She was smaller and lighter on her feet, her blows, quicker and less noticeable.

"I hate you!" Her voice didn't sound like her own, deeper and more masculine. "Do you even know what you did to me?" I quickly brought my blade in, wincing as it made contact with her neck. I couldn't watch. I shut my eyes and wished I was anywhere else.

After a few seconds, I opened them again and saw my baby girl lying dead on the ground, her face set in an expression of pain and betrayal. I sunk to my knees beside her, pulling her cold, lifeless body into my arms. I couldn't stop the tears that followed. They wound down my face and rolled off my chin, landing uselessly on Artemis' forehead.

"Show yourself!" My voice echoed uselessly around what used to be my bedroom, but was now just darkness. My voice was pure rage that scared even me.

A light turned on, revealing Azara failing miserably to defend both of us. The man she was fighting was tall and dark and radiated danger. Azara lay on her back, her face barely recognisable between the bruises, swelling, cuts and burns.

The man in front of her was at least twice her size and from the looks of the fight, twice as powerful.

"Zachery!" I could tell Azara was trying to yell, but it came out barley as a whisper. "Does your father know about this? Should I tell him? Or should I leave that pleasure to you?" Her broken face scrunched up in what was meant to be a smirk.

"You got nothing on me!" His voice sounded so familiar, a mix of American, British and Middle Eastern. "What makes you think anyone will listen to you? You're a disgrace!"

"And you're a sexist pig! Guess we're even!" The man raised his hand to Azara, his palm facing the ground, making Azara shrink back in fear. He closed his fist, making a motion as though turning off a tap. Azara's hand flew to her throat her voice became muffled in a serious of coughs and splutters that I'm sure would have hurt like hell!

Azara began waving her hand madly, trying to fight, but none of her spells seemed to be working.

"_He's cut of her oxygen! She specialises in fire. Can you see why this isn't working?" _My internal Aragorn chimed in. Just when I thought he'd given up on being sarcastic! Ok. I need a bow and arrow. Bow and arrow. BOW AND ARROW! I quickly grabbed the newly formed bow and an arrow from the quiver on my back. I've decided I like dreams.

I quickly aimed my shot, more to distract than kill. The arrow struck dead in his upper arm, making him lose his concentration and turning Azara's oxygen back on. The man turned on me, his eyes burning red in the dark. Azara didn't waste any time. She quickly sprung to her feet, using everything she had to bring him to his knees.

"Katie, I need your help. I can't hold him for long! No matter what you see, hear, you have to run and don't turn back. Get Tywein! Understand?" Azara was desperate, I could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes. I swallowed and nodded, but I couldn't help but wondering what she meant about hearing and seeing things.

I was jerked roughly back to consciousness, and trust me, it did not feel good! Beside me, Azara's body jerked violently and her eyes rolled back in her head. Her face looked the same, if not worse than in my dream.

I quickly leapt to my feet, grabbing the package of bandages and washes from the package at my side. Artemis had developed a keen interest in healing and now insisted that we all carried around first aid kits. At first I hadn't see the point of it, but now, I was glad I'd listened to her. I quickly pinned Azara, trying to ignore the difficulties her thrashing presented.

As soon as the soaked cloth touched her face, a flicker of consciousness played across her face. "Tywein. Get Tywein!" Her voice sounded like sandpaper, rough, but far away. I hesitated for a moment. It went against all reason to leave her.

She was losing a lot of blood and if I left her now... I may not make it back in time. But on the other hand, I knew she could handle herself. I quickly picked myself up and set off at full pace down the corridor, shouting for help the whole way.

Tywein's POV:

I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Jess' face, as she tried to keep up with Ceildë's hands working wonders with the velvet. Jess had never had a dress fitted before and seemed a little uncomfortable with the process. The dress was red velvet decorated with gold and split sleeves. A strange noise echoed down the hallway, sounding like a small stampede.

"TYWEIN!" Katie's frantic voice quickly followed. It didn't surprise me. Everyone at some point in their lives wanted to kill her; it wasn't living if you didn't. I lazily stood, making my way slowly to the door. Elladan and Elrohir weren't exactly a huge threat, and it would really teach her if Fae caught up!

I opened the door, praying to the valar that she wouldn't hit me. Guess they weren't listening. The second I opened the door, I was hit rather hard by Katie, knocking me roughly to the floor. I opened my mouth, ready to give her an earful about it, but one look at her face told me this was serious. She was even more pale than usual, her face beaded with sweat and her hands covered in blood. With one last shaky breath she manage; "Azara. Courtyard. HELP!", and with that, she managed the impossible; she fainted!

**Hey ya'll! I'm so sorry it took so long to update. Year 9's tougher than it looks! I've only been back a few weeks and I'm already overloaded with assessments. I really hope you liked this chapter and hope it was worth the wait! Can you PLEASE REVIEW? It's really nice to get them and know people are reading. I'm currently lacking motivation and am thinking of giving up on this.**

**Hope you all have a wonderful day/week/month/year/life!**

**Luv ya,**

**Lost3**


	8. Yet Another Plot for World Domination

**Chapter 8- Yet another Plot for World Domination- Tywein's POV: **

**A/N- Ok, I know that some parts of this will not match up with Tolkien. I've tried to keep it as true as possible but for the purposes of this story, I have changed it slightly as well as adding a bit more of my own perspective. I do apologise, but it's essential for the story. Anywho, profitez-en! (enjoy) **

I shoved Katie rather roughly to the floor, taking off down the way that she had come in a desperate sprint. I was going to kill Azara when I found her. The girl couldn't be in one place for more than a day without causing trouble. What she had done this time, one could only guess, but, I knew it couldn't be good.

I rounded the corner too fast, smacking into the archway and taking the skin off my bare shoulder. Azara lay on her back in the middle of the court yard, her face barely recognisable between the cuts, bruises, swellings and burns. What had happened here?

Azara jerked, a new cut appearing on her face. That had to hurt. Her jerk had also revealed the fast growing pool of blood forming around her, flowing steadily from a deep cut in her side.

Shit. I quickly ran back into the hallway, grabbing one of the lamps hanging by the entrance and rushing back to Azara's side. I reach up my skirt for the small package I always kept on me. I let the package fall to the ground, a few of the candles escaping their bindings.

I had to work quickly, putting the candles in exact alignment and lighting them from west to east and back to west. The flames flickered for a second, threatening to go out. I held my breath, preparing myself for the fact that this may have been too little, too late.

Suddenly, the flames leapt high into the morning air, almost reaching the ceiling. I sighed in relief. I'd made it. Azara was drawing strength from the candles and that would even the battle field. Damn air wizards! They always fought dirtier than dirty! They had to make a big deal about the fact that they had the advantage.

Let's face it. They were the most powerful, that's why the leaders of the order were almost always air wielders. Well, all wizards had minor control over everything, but in the modern day and age, they had two things they had to specialise in; a natural element such as fire, water, air or earth as well as a small skill, such as shape shifting or dream walking that suited their personalities.

Without air, fire could not start, not even with the most powerful spells. Water without oxygen, is just hydrogen. Perhaps the only ones who had a chance were the earth wielders. The air might limit them, but could not stop them. Unfortunately, Azara was a fire witch battling Zachery, an air wizard and son of Harrison, the head of the order.

They were of course not limited to their elemental spell, but they were the most powerful. Other spells used their creators as power sources, and therefore took a lot more energy and concentration, energy and concentration Azara did not currently possess. Elemental spells however, could draw upon the element of their origin for power. This meant it could be maintained for longer and with more power.

When this had first started, the elements were abused, used against themselves for the selfish designs of their masters. It had almost killed the earth. After that, the elements were wary of all who tried to use them. I'm not crazy. I swear! The elements are not inanimate, mixing together by strange coincidence to form weather, or disasters; they're much more than that. They play such a huge role in the day to day lives of every single living thing on earth.

Long ago, they were servants of Ilúvatar, who humans call God, created when the Valar separated themselves from this earth, to control the elements. They'd worked for a while, but after being abused by the Istari, they went rouge, answering to no one but their own desires, on many occasions, working together to bring down those who opposed them.

Many may ask why Ilúvatar has done nothing to stop them, if he cares at all for the death they bring. We ask the same questions. Why must men perish while we survive? Why do they deserve death? Why do we deserve life? This life is both a blessing and a curse. Many who heard me would think this crazy, that I could live forever and found no joy in it. Immortality is not all it's cracked up to be; forced to watch the ones you love grow old and die around you while you forever remain the same, lasting while the world lasts.

What we must remember is that Ilúvatar has a purpose for everyone, and everything that has happened, is happening or will happen has been planned by him. But what is my purpose? In my lifetime, I have done no good. I caused the deaths of so many innocent people, my own parents included. I lied and cheated for my own personal gain, was selfish and toyed with people's emotions just because I felt like it. I'd almost killed my daughter trying to save her and left her in what I thought were safe hands, but turned out to belong to a total arsehole! How could this be my purpose?

The blood that surrounded Azara shivered with anticipation and flames began dancing through her auburn curls. Her body jerked again as the fire worked its way into her system. The blood leapt into the air as suddenly as the fire had, heading back towards their points of origin.

She may now be safe from Zachery, but fire would take its toll. When Istari slept, there was no waking them, probably because they needed to be alive for that. The elements were merciless, reclaiming all that had been taken from them plus interest and driving the user to the brink of death. There, they were trapped in a world that was somewhere in between death and life, a state of being aware of everything on both sides though being unable to move and remembering nothing when you returned.

After a few moments, Azara's eyes fluttered open, using her hand to make what was left of her face look somewhat normal, but that would not make it hurt her any less. She rolled slightly to face me, her eyes meeting mine. "Thank you!" She mouthed, a small smile playing across her lips, the flames on the candles disappearing. A tremor ran through her body, causing her skin and hair to turn sickly white. Fire was taking her.

I walked slowly over; leaning down to kiss her forehead before packing the candles back into their wrap and strapping them back to my thigh. I couldn't leave her here. I bent down beside her, carefully sliding my arms underneath her ice cold figure. I sat there for a moment, thinking it through how I could do this without hurting her.

I heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. Perfect timing! I stuck my head out the doorway, grabbing my unfortunate victim by the sleeve and pulling them after me. I turned to see Aragorn following in confusion. I pulled him into the courtyard itself, jerking my head at Azara.

"Give a girl a hand would ya!"

**Damian's POV:**

I slammed my fist down on the alarm clock, trying desperately to shut off the annoying buzz. Nothing happened. I tried again with little result. Annoyed, I rolled over, opening my heavy eyes with much effort. I could feel that this was going to be a bad day.

The source of the noise was not in fact the alarm clock, but rather embarrassingly, my phone. Who could want me at five thirty in the morning? I put the phone to my ear, rolling over and pulling the covers up over my head.

"If it's an emergency, call triple zero. If you want me to give a damn, call back later!" I moved my finger lazily towards the end button, already half asleep. I could almost hear the smile on the other end.

"What button do I press for both?" I stopped, suddenly fully alert.

"Zane?" I was met by a small chuckle filled with pain. Zane had been my best friend since high school, my leading officer, and the one who I had followed to whatever end in battle. "Oh my God! I can't believe it's really you! How are you?"

"I need a favour!"

I knocked on the door of the address Zane had given me. It had been so long since I'd seen him. I think he was the last guy I saw before I was captured. The woman who stood beside me seemed to be anywhere else. Her eyes had taken on a strange, glazed over kind of look and her voice lacked emotion. Overall, she could have been a robot. Zane had given me specific instructions; "Go to the hospital and pick up any old nurse then come to this address."

So here I was, with a nurse. Why? I could only guess. Zane had a history for speaking his mind and not giving a damn what anyone thought about it, and a history of having the shit kicked out of him for it.

"It's open!" Zane's pained voice echoed to the door. That was odd. Zane wasn't the kind of guy who would leave his front door unlocked. After being in the army, you became slightly paranoid. Not because you believed someone was after you, you just got in the habit of being cautious, doing little things like sleeping with a weapon, locking all your doors and windows, having the best security systems money could buy and moving silently.

The door swung effortlessly open under my touch, making me wonder. If it was this easy to get in, it could not be this easy to get to Zane. Zane had specialised in making little 'accidents' happen wherever he went, mostly mini explosions.

My eyes carefully swept the hall, noting the security cameras, laser trip wires and small detonators. One wrong move and I'd been blown sky high. "Ah...Zane? No chance you turn your traps off, is there?"

"Already done." I blinked. This was so unlike Zane. I took a cautious step forward, my eyes trained for any movement that could be an attack; my feet moving lightly on the floor boards, quite aware that one creak could be my doom.

The nurse followed me, still looking like she was in a trance. I winced with every step she took, praying to whoever was listening that we would survive this. Inside the room was lit with a small lamp, revealing Zane lying on his bed in a pool of- hopefully- his own blood.

His face was hard to look at, even for an experienced solider. Zane was currently completely blind, with his right eye too swollen to see from and his left filled with blood from the deep gash that ran from his eyebrow to his chin. The rest of his body was covered in burns, bruises and scratches.

"What happened here?" My voice was quiet as I tried to ignore my dinner rising in my throat.

"I sleep walk...remember?"

Zane pulled a shirt over his head, wincing as it brushed up against the gauze that covered his burnt chest. To put it simply, he looked like Frankenstein's Monster, his body a mix of stitches, gauzes and dried blood.

The nurse had already left, looking a little dazed and confused. What was with that? And why all this secrecy? I had the sinking feeling that Zane was hiding something, and knowing him, it couldn't be good.

"Alright, where's the body?" Zane chuckled and sat on the bed across from me, pulling out a bottle of whisky from the chest of draws. Why was him killing someone a ridiculous thought? I'd seen him do it all the time. The look on his face as his bullets ripped through his enemies' bodies, it was sickening. After my first kill, it had driven me crazy, keeping me up for a week.

I couldn't help but wonder why I was there. Why was my life worth more than theirs? Did he have a family, waiting and praying he would come home? And had I just killed them all? It made me think of home, my family. What if that had been me? What would have happened to my family? It took me weeks to get my head in it. I just had to realise, this was my job. I was there to keep peace, and that was what I was doing.

"No body. But I do need your help... And you sure as hell need mine!

**Zane's POV:**

Damian sat in front of me, his eyes staring blankly at the computer screen. Maybe this was too much for him. I waved my hand in front of his face, but it was no use, his eyes were still locked with Tess's, or should I say, Tywein's. It must be hard to look your attempted murderer in the eye. You would never forget those eyes.

Tywein's especially. She had cold, hard, piercing blue eyes that reminded me of ice. They held no emotion but anger and never any mercy. I'd been sent here by my father, Harrison, head of the Order, to watch the elves, and I'll tell you now; there was bugger all to see.

...Well, maybe not bugger all, but not much. The elves of Mirkwood have always been a secretive folk, distrustful of strangers, but if you looked closely enough, you could see them. They were silent, deadly and extremely protective of their privacy.

I was here only as a precaution, an eye and ear on our biggest threats, but none of this would help. The elves were happy where they were, and had no plans of expanding their territory. This information was useless to the Order, but not to me.

For years, I'd waited, waited for my time to shine...but my father wouldn't have that. Everything I did, he claimed as his own. He would be nothing without me. If I could eliminate the threat of Mirkwood and Lorien, as well as bringing in a traitor, they would see my father as he really was; a weakling, a liar, a cheat.

"Her rap sheet is way too long to list. Possessions of firearms, arms dealing, armed robbery, murder, accessory to murder, assault, attempted murder, possession of class A substance with intent to supply, identity theft, arson and resisting arrest, to name a few. Most repeated about twenty times."

Damian nodded, the only sign I would get to let me know he was alive and listening. I flicked the screen, showing another picture. The two looked extremely similar, obviously mother and daughter.

"Jess?" Damian's voice broke the silence, making me jump. I knew 'Jess' had been his fiancé for a few years; he talked about her all the time when we were in the army together. There was a look of pain in his eyes, sadness and a fear.

"Her real name is Herenya, and she's way older than twenty-two man! Try...like, five thousand at least! I haven't seen her for about two, maybe three months, no credit card activity, no phone activity. She's completely dropped off the radar. Tywein's famous for it, so I'm guessing she had help. Their files were all wiped clean."

Again he nodded. I swear, if didn't start talking soon, I'd make sure he never did again! It was really bugging me. I sighed, my finger lazily pressing the button.

"Katherine Alisha Mason. Know these days as Katie or Manwathiel. Your sister. I know you don't want to admit this, but she's dangerous, Damian. We need to do something about her, or people will die!"

I pulled up a map of Mirkwood, or, as good a map as anyone not familiar to the area could draw up.

"Mirkwood is expanding its territory." I was lying through my teeth, but he didn't have to know that. He was the ace up my sleeve, without him, my whole plan fell apart. When Galadriel brought Katie back to life as an elf, she had been forced to bring Damien back to restore balance. He didn't know it yet, but he was more like Katie than anyone but myself had guessed.

Katie had the power of compulsion...and so did Damien. With him under my control, we could do anything... well, almost anything. The only person who would be able to stop us, happed to be his baby sister, the only person left in the world he would never hurt.

He had the potential of a great warrior, I just had to play on his conscious. If I could just convince him that more people would get hurt if she lived, I may just have a chance. Then my father would see, they would all see.

They would see just how capable I was, this would insure my inheritance. The council didn't want to give me power. Not only was I the youngest in my family, my reputation as a party boy did not help. The way our system worked, was...odd to say the least.

Twelve families made up our council, each with a representative who was allocated the power in the family. They were all born with the gift, but , to stop one family having too much power, their powers were confiscated. No one really knew where they went, but I did.

My father, Harrison, was leader of the Order, predecessor or Steven, Azara's father. After his death, a will had been found, requesting that power be given to Harrison because his son, Paul, was still only a child.

If not, power would have gone straight to Paul, as he was the oldest and their only son. In our society, men were in charge and women had no power. They weren't born with the same powers as us. Only Azara had power, and for it, she was faced with 300 years of servitude, doing the dirty work that the rest of us considered too low.

She was our best reaper, thought, we refused to tell her that. Mortals were always looking for a little extra help, and Azara made sure we gave it to them. The ritual was a very painful one, but nothing compared to what would happen if you didn't live up to your end of the bargain.

Azara hated the work, anyone with half a conscience would. You stole people's souls, the souls of those who needed them most, those who were really down on their luck. No wonder she'd gone slightly strange.

Paul, on the other hand, followed straight in his fathers' footsteps. He was now about twenty five years old and competing with my father, trying to win back what he called his 'Rightful place' as head of the Order.

He knew it was a hopeless cause, but that never stopped him from trying. All wizards had to specialise in something; an element from which they could draw huge amounts of power as well as a physical but usually mental ability. For me, it was dream walking, with my main power being drawn from air. My father also specialised in air. Most sons who were to gain inheritance took on their father's element. It was a kind of 'watch and learn' thing.

Air was usually considered stronger than the other elements, and had a habit of making enemies. We could limit the power of both water and fire, only earth really stood a chance. We did have one tiny weakness though, tiny, but fatal. All the other elements were solidly linked with their wielders, allowing the wizard to channel the power thought his whole body.

Air was more of a free spirit, answering to no-one. Air wielders could only control air with their left hand. Don't laugh! I know it sounds ridiculous, try it for yourself! Don't ask me why left, don't ask why the hand. I don't know! I don't think anyone knew! But we kept it pretty quiet. Even with only one hand, we could floor all their arses in ten seconds flat, without even breaking a sweat!

My father's other specialty, was compulsion, not that many people knew it. He was just good enough as a mind reader to pass for one, of course, I'm sure his compulsion had a hand in that. That was how he had come to power.

Everyone just bought the story that he and his wife, Elena had died tragically in a car explosion caused from a collision. Steven and my father hated each other, were bitter enemies in fact. Steven considered himself above our law and married an outsider, someone of a non-magical background and had encouraged the use of his daughter's magic. That was why he was killed. No-one found it even slightly suspicious when a wizard who specialised in fire, died in a fire related accident. In fact, if you looked at the coroner's report ...he was drowned.

Dumb-arses the lot of them! No one bothered to check the fine print. Secretly, they'd all wanted him dead, so when they finally had their wish, why should they complain? Azara was five at the time of his death, and Paul was fifteen.

Paul was the only family Azara had ever known, and she worshiped the ground he stood on. They both understood the truth about their parent's death, though they had different views. Azara wanted revenge, though she didn't fully understand why they were killed.

Paul on the other hand, knew everything, though he wouldn't tell Azara; their parents had died for her. Our usual procedure to cover up a witch, was to quickly dispose of her, however, Elena had offered herself up as a swap. Steven was never supposed to be in that car.

Steven then worked out what had happened and was threatening to tell. We had no other choice.

Paul wanted revenge, deep in his heart, he did. But he was clever about it, never openly opposing my father or giving us any reason to go after him or Azara. It was a shame really. They were a hassle to keep around, a liability.

When my father died, power should rightfully come to me, as I was the eldest male of direct decent. In this way it was figured, all families would eventually come to power. My elder sister, Lana, however did not agree.

It was her argument that I was too irresponsible for the task. It was a tradition to marry young in our culture, at the ages of sixteen to twenty. I was fifty. That's still very young for an Istari, the average lifespan reaching roughly three hundred years.

Apparently, by this time in my life, I should be married and produced a legitimate heir. I had neither of these things... a few illegitimate heirs, but none that could take my place. For this reason Lana argued that power should skip me and come down her line.

She could obviously never take power for herself, but insisted that it instead be given to her husband, Eönwë Dior.

Eönwë was the middle child of the Dior family, meaning that by law he could not inherit power, instead by his older brother, Elemmirë, who was sixty years old, had no wife, no heir and no intention of changing that. I think his bread was buttered on the other side... if you get what I mean.

That brought us back to Eönwë, though there was a slight problem. He had three children, all of them girls. We had reached a dead end in our legal system that would probably either end in my arranged marriage, Lana having another child...if she could cope, or the Order holing an election. None were options I liked.

Especially when I knew their first choice; Bianca Stevens, Azara's first cousin. Bianca was the eldest of Thomas's three children and possibly the most stuck up person I'd ever met. She liked guys with money and the brains to use it.

Also, her little broth, Luke, was married to Niniel, my sister's eldest daughter. Yep! Our family tree was one long line of incest. And to make it worse, we didn't think twice about it. Apparently we hadn't yet realised that interbreeding caused mental illnesses.

There was actually a law that stated:

_If by the time of his father's death, his heir remains unmarried and without an heir, he is by law requested to marry immediately the eldest, un-married woman of closest relation or forfeit his inheritance. In which case, an election will be held within the community, voting for a member of the council._

In my case, this would mean marrying Hísilómë, my niece! And I bet you thought your family was messed up! Damian finally looked up to meet me, his eyes hard and determined. "What's the plan?"

I smiled, hoping it looked slightly less evil than it felt. "We're going to throw a party!"

**Hey ya'll! I know I haven't updated in a while. Sorry about that. I've had assignments coming out of my ears! And no internet probably hasn't helped either. I really hope you like my chapter and I will try to get another one out ASAP! Thanks for reading and a review would really be appreciated. I know this was a long one, so sorry? Anywho, Luv ya!**

**Lost-xoxoxoxoxoxox**


	9. You've GOT to be Kidding Me!

**Chapter 9- You've GOT to be Kidding Me! - Katie's POV:**

**A/n: Hey guys, just wanted to say sorry this took so long, I've been really sick and swimming in assignments. I just wanted to let you know there will be some elvish in here. There is no guarantee that it is correct, it's just what I can find. As Damian cannot speak elvish, I have not provided a translation in his section, you should however find it in the following POV. I have also used the name translations from Arwen Undomiel. Thanks, luv Lostypoo (I blame Courtney!)**

I sat and stared at the sleeping form of Artemis beside me, her hand tightly gripping her sword and a small, childish frown set on her face.

I'd like to say I'd woken up, but really, I'd just regained consciousness about ten minutes ago. I searched the small chest of drawers for some clothes, anything that would let me get out of here, but there was nothing. I really had to keep a better track of my things.

This was so embarrassing! Here I was, stuck in the infirmary again with no clothes but the night gown I was standing in and from the feel of it, a huge, red lump on my forehead. I rushed into the small bathroom across from me. Yep, there was a lump. And to make matters worse, my daughter had decided that I needed her protection.

I think I'd just lost the respect of the elven world. But oh well. I'd quickly earn it back when I kicked their butts in training. A small sound behind me caught my attention, just the small whisper of movement, but it was enough. I turned around and threw myself into Legolas' arms, presenting my forehead for a kiss.

The lips that pressed to my forehead were twisted in a smile, and made special care to avoid the bump. Legolas wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me up for a proper kiss.

"Your ears are getting better Katie."

I moved slightly so that I lay mostly on top of Legolas, his arms holding me in a loose hug. Apparently, I'd been out for almost a week. They were just about to ask Azara for help when I showed some signs of life.

Legolas and I just lay there, watching Artemis sleep, her hand still firmly attached to the sword. We would've given her the bed, but something about her said 'Touch me and die! Or...at least lose your hand'. Legolas had been filling me in on all the happenings of Mirkwood while I was out.

Elrond, Elrohir, Aragorn and Arwen had left for Rivendell two days ago, taking a few of the girls from my class as guides through the forest as well as all their horses. Damn! I don't know what the arrangement was, whether Glorfindel lent Arwen Asfaloth, or whether Arwen just stole the poor beast, but either way, I now had to find a new mode of transportation.

Elladan had stayed behind to be with Jess, who wanted to stay close to what had been her home. I personally think she would have liked Rivendell better. That's where I always went on holidays. The Last Homely House is like a drug, very addictive. The peace there is unbelievable.

As a rule, elves love a good time, songs, jokes and generally being childish-why do you think I fit in so well here?- but the elves of Mirkwood tended to be more serious than anywhere else. I'm not joking! I guess it was from always being paranoid and distrustful.

But here was the big news for me; Jess was pregnant! Can you believe it? Elladan? A father? I couldn't see it working, but maybe I gave my brother too little credit. All the time I'd know him, he'd been a huge prankster and a famous flirt, because that's what he wanted people to see. Underneath it all, he was a big, cuddly, over-protective teddy bear.

That wasn't the biggest part of this bombshell though. Damian was the father. I could maybe believe Elladan sticking by his own children, but someone else's? That was asking a lot of a guy new to this thing called commitment. I think the biggest commitment he had ever made up until this point, was being a soldier

I smiled at the thought, looking up into Legolas' eyes. In them, I saw something troubling him, something he didn't want to tell me. I shot him a questioning look. It was kind of creepy that we didn't need to talk anymore to know what the other was trying to say. I'd never had a problem with it since I'd become an elf, but I guess it is kind of frightened me that someone could see straight through me. But that's what love does to you.

"It's…about Terra."

I rushed about the stables, gathering the tack and supplies I would need for my journey. It would take me two weeks just to reach the opposite end of Mirkwood down the long road to Lorien, only one if Arwen hadn't taken Asfaloth. I would have no chance of catching them now.

Long ago, the Ents had filled the gap between Mirkwood and Lorien, their roots forming a bridge across the Anduin...if it was still there. The path was long and twisting, taking you to the Mountains of Mirkwood and down on towards Dol Guldur. It was a dark and cheerless path, with only two chances for water along the way.

Legolas rushed after me, his babble barely registering. "Danger...alone...pointless...Galadriel...Are you even listening to me?"

I paused for a second. "Yes...?" Legolas sighed, not his usual 'exasperated but still smiling' sigh, he was angry with me. "Terra is Artemis' best friend and she is like a sister to me. How can you expect me to sit by and do nothing?"

Legolas pinched the bridge of his nose. "At least take me with you." Now it was my turn to sigh.

"You have to stay here. Thranduil will never forgive me if I get you killed, plus, you're too logical. I'm acting on pure impulse. It's only a month. Artemis needs you, not me. Terra is the only one crazy or wiling enough to ride through these forests on a day to day basis. How could Galadriel exile our only messenger?"

Damian's POV:

The limo rolled slowly down the street. For a million dollar car, it drove like a snail carrying a particularly heavy load. I looked anxiously out of the window. This was the rough part of town, where drugs, prostitutes, and arms dealing was common place, and as usual, Zane was right in the middle of it.

He liked to cause trouble whenever and wherever he could, it was "a way of defying his father", or so he told me, who wanted him to be perfect. Zane was from a rich family, and he probably would never have to work again after he got his share of his inheritance. But knowing Zane, he would spend it in a week on girls, drugs and alcohol.

I grinned at the thought. Zane didn't talk about his family much, other than how much he hated his father. I had to face facts that that was probably all I'd ever know about the Long family. I sighed, switching my mind to the task at hand. It sounded crazy to me, but apparently my vote didn't count.

We were on our way to the bank, where I was supposedly going to be given ten million dollars. Not of my money, I barely had a hundred to my name, and it sure as hell wasn't Zane's money.

"Now Damian, do you remember what to do?" Zane's voice cut into my thoughts, pulling me back to the real world.

"I walk up to the cashier, tell her to hand over ten million dollars, pocket the cash, tell her to erase the video footage in her lunch break, forget she ever saw me and come meet you in the car." We'd been over this a thousand times, and I still didn't see how it would work. None of this made sense to me. It was the worst attempt at a bank robbery I'd ever heard of!

"The eyes, Damian. You MUST look in their eyes!" I opened my mouth to ask him what the hell he'd been smoking, but I decided against it. I knew from experience, he could floor me in ten seconds flat without raising a sweat.

I nodded and went back to staring out the window. The view was what you'd expect in the rough end of the city; dirty streets, apartment buildings and office blocks. The usual, boring old city. That was, until I saw her.

A delicate, white and gold dress hung loosely to her tiny frame, the cold wind sending the thin material flying this way then that. She lay face down in the alleyway, her thick, dark hair obscuring most of my view. My heart melted at the sight of her.

"Stop the car!" I barely registered what I was saying, or why the hell I was saying it. I saw homeless people all the time, so why did I care about this one? The car had barely stopped when my door flung open and I found my feet sprinting towards her. "Miss? Are you ok?" I leaned down and shook her gently, trying to wake her up. Apparently, she doesn't like being woken up.

With a flash her hand flew up her sleeve, removing a long, sharp dagger and she flew into the best defensive stance she could while sitting.

"Dartho!" Her tone was sharp as I was assaulted by the unfamiliar tongue. "Mani uma lle merna?" I backed away with my hands up, trying to show her that I meant no harm. I'd learnt quickly to take pissed off chicks with weapons seriously.

Her face seemed so familiar. She had long, shaggy, black-brown hair, pale skin and piercing blue eyes. She was quite short, and slim, but with every flex of her arm, hidden muscles tensed. Her eyes were set in a fierce, determined glare.

"Nuitho i 'ruith!" This time, it was Zane who spoke, his words drawing some of her attention away from me, but something told me, she as not stupid enough to not be aware of me. If i so much as twitched, I had no doubt that she would kill me. The girl looked at Zane in shock. "Telin le thaed."

The girl raised an eyebrow, appearing just as confused as I was. "Man le?" All anger had disappeared from her voice, now only holding well deserved caution. All I could do was stand there, my hands in the air, looking and feeling like an idiot.

"Manwë. Man le estach?" I sighed. This was beginning to get boring.

" Terra Ennostiel." Her voice was wary, but her eyes were what really caught my attention. It was as if I were looking into her soul. Though her eyes, I saw a lady robbed in white, a sad smile upon her face as she watched the young girl who she had raised as a daughter be thrown into exile on her order, by people she thought were her friends. I saw as she looked back to her forest home, her tiny voice screaming "Ammë! Ammë!" whatever it was that that meant.

"Henio?" Zane's voice brought me rushing back to reality, if that was what I could call my life anymore. It seemed more like a nightmare. The girl slowly slid the dagger back down her sleeve, relaxing her position slightly, but only slightly. She still didn't trust us. "Hannon le!" the girl nodded and slowly rose to her feet, turning to me and looking me dead in the eye.

"Amin hiraetha, heruamin." She sunk into a low curtsey and awaited my reply. I shot Zane a questioning glance.

"Ú-moe edaved, arwenamin." The girl slowly rose and flashed me a brilliant smile that made my heart melt. "Aphado nin?" Zane sounded desperate, as though he were pleading for his life, and for all I knew, he could have been! The girl nodded and took a tentative step forward.

"Be iest lîn."

Terra's POV:

I was having, as Katie would say, a shit-tastic day! No, you'd better make that month! It had been about three weeks since Galadriel had kicked me out on my ass with a vague mention of a mission. I'd stopped listening after kill, and now I was kicking myself.

I wasn't allowed back, until the ringleaders of war were dead. Their names were Zackary and Damian. That was all I was given. No place, no how, no why, I just had to do it. I don't know why I'd come this way, I'd just picked myself up and started walking, praying that the Valar would guide me.

Apparently they were good at directions. "Miss? Are you ok?" Even when asleep, I had learnt to keep one eye and one ear open for danger. I automatically reached up my sheer sleeve and pulled out my long, primitive dagger. It was nothing special, especially when you compared it to Faelwen's collection.

"Hold!" I answered instinctively in the elvish tongue, quickly taking in my surroundings and my target. He was a man, that much I could tell, in his mid twenties. His short brown hair was spiked and his brown face lined with fear. I could tell from the glint in his eye, I was not the first to hold this man at knife point. "What do you want?"

The man looked at a loss for words, the puzzled look on his face a clear indicator that he couldn't understand me. Perfect. Now, I would make Galadriel proud, I would prove all those acting lessons had actually sunk in. All I had to do was play dumb, and according to Orophin and Rumil, that was something I was very good at!

A man rushed into the passage after him, raising his hands when he saw my threat. "Hold your wrath!" His use of the elven tongue startled me, jarring me away from the first man. This man looked older, maybe in his early thirties with warm skin matched with spiky black hair. His eyes were cold and calculating, sending a shiver down my back. "I have come to help." I highly doubted that.

He nodded, acknowledging and understanding my caution. "Who are you?" I lowered my tone, hoping he would realise I was giving a chance to explain before I killed him. He did not seem to notice, but something told me those eyes could see everything.

"Manwë." He answered without thought. I studied him carefully, I might have believed Mandos, but there was no way I would buy Manwë. Did he seriously expect that I would believe he was the lord of the Valar? I stopped, kicking my brain into gear. Manwë translated roughly meant pure, pure as a common name, was then translated to Zachary. This was just too perfect. The very men I was supposed to kill had just fallen straight into my lap. The Valar must love me! "What do you call yourself?"

I paused, wondering how much of myself I should give away. I needed to play my part right, scared, alone and helpless, slow to trust yet willing to be helped. I sighed, lowering my knife slightly, attempting to show him that he was getting through to me. "Terra Natasha." Zachary nodded, his eyes focused on my weapons.

"Please?" I glared. He wanted me to lower my weapons? He had to be jesting. I sighed. I did not trust either of these men as far as I could throw them- and from the looks of how big they were, that was not far- but I had no choice. I slowly slid my dagger back down my sleeve. I could kill them anytime it pleased me, but right now, I wanted a bed, a hot bath and some information. "Thank you!"

I nodded and stood slowly, brushing down my skirt as I did. Somehow, it had managed to remain white. I did not have the natural grace the elves were born with, but Galadriel had taught me well. I think in her mind, I was a replacement for Celebrian that her heart would never accept. I had been rejected by my real parents, kidnapped from my adopted family and kicked on my ass by people I had thought my friends. Isn't life peachy?

Katie really was a bad influence on me, and Galadriel pointed it out regularly. She was the mother of my best friend, but was more like a sister in my heart. A curtsied low to the first man, who I assumed was Damian. "I am sorry, my lord." He smiled a polite smile and shot a glance back at his friend.

Zachary smiled. "There is nothing to forgive, my lady." I slowly rose and gave him a grateful nod. "Follow me?" This was the invitation I had been hoping for. Now I would finally be able to bathe! As well as learn a little more about my new 'friends'. I plastered a surprised look on my face, allowing my jaw to drop before seemingly composing myself.

"As you wish." Zachary smiled and offered me an arm which I gladly accepted. As I was lead around the corner, I noticed a large, black beast purring in wait. I jumped, putting Zachary between it and myself. He laughed, leaning down to whisper in my ear. Had I been an elf, he would have had me on my knees. Elves were particularly sensitive about their ears, but not in the way you would expect. Trust me; I'd had quarters next to Hal and Fae for my entire life, they brought a whole new meaning to 'things that go bang in the night'!

"It is called a car. It shall be our transport." I looked at him uncertainly. "I promise you, it is perfectly safe."

"What the hell is going on?" Damian whispered, shooting me a cautious sideways glance. I smiled uncomfortably and looked at my toes. Zachary laughed and clapped his friend roughly on the shoulder.

"Relax ,man!" He reached underneath his seat and bought out three, brown glass bottles. "She doesn't understand a word of English!"

Katie's POV:

I awoke suddenly from my uneasy sleep to the feel of soft lips at my neck, slowly moving towards the tips of my ears. My breath caught in my throat, every nerve ending burning with desire. "Legolas!" I sighed in contentment, forcing myself to turn around. I was going to show that elf just what I thought of him.

So, you could imagine my surprise when, it wasn't Legolas at all. In fact, it wasn't even an elf. It was my horse Laurë. I stared in shock at the beast, who could only grin like a fool at me. I glared.

"Have I ever told you I hate you?" The horse gave a laugh, or, what sounded like a laugh in response. I sighed and started packing up camp. The Anduin flowed swift and deep in front of me, blocking my path. The only way across was a small wooden raft and a paddle that didn't look like it would last the long journey to the other bank. Luckily, I had to leave Laurë here.

I smiled at the thought. You know what they say; revenge is sweet.

I pushed open the doors to Galadriel's mirror and found her sitting amongst the roots of the tall tree, waiting.

"How could you?" My voice was soft, tired from my long journey. Galadriel however, was just getting started.

"How dare you come here and question my actions! Is this not after all my kingdom? May I not do as I please with my own things?"

I balled my fists at my sides, by words coming as a snarl through my clenched teeth. "A person's life is not a toy! You can't just play with someone until you're bored of them! That's not how this works! You have power, but that does not mean that you can just throw it around and expect others to clean up your messes!"

At this, Galadriel's eyes turned cold, her mouth twisting into an evil scowl. "If my messes need cleaning up, then why are you still here?" I cocked my head. If that was supposed to be a comeback, it wasn't a very good one. "You were a mistake, an experiment. That's all you are to me."

For some reason, her words cut me. I swallowed back the feeling and lifted my chin in stubborn pride. I would not let her get to me. Galadriel's voice broke and tears began streaming down her face.

"It was Arwen I cared about. I knew she would die if Aragorn did, and I couldn't let that happen. I made a deal with Mandos, but I had to check that it would work. It was Mandos who sent me to your house, though I don't know why." She fell into a sobbing heap in my arms. "I'm sorry!"

**Hey ya'll, I really hope you liked my chapter and I do apologise that it took so long to update. My life is crazy at the moment. Between homework, hockey and assignments, I've been pulling my hair out. Anywho, thanks to Andrew for editing!**


	10. Keep Your Friends Close

**Chapter 10- Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer- Katie's POV:**

I'd never know Galadriel to cry. She's the strong, silent type, stubborn and could be a bitch when it suited her. That was why we got along so well. I wasn't very good with...emotional outbursts, that was why Legolas usually got the job of looking after Artemis.

I knew that if I really wanted to, I could be a parent, commanding Artemis around like she was my property. But I'd made myself a promise that I'd never do that. I was always more like a friend to Artemis than her mother. That was why she and Legolas got along so well, he was good at this sort of thing.

I awkwardly rubbed Galadriel's back in a vain attempt to sooth her, my other hand smoothing her curls. Across the other end of the hall Celeborn smiled at me sadly, his brow set in deep worry. I shot him a panicked glance, making him smile a genuine smile. He always found my discomfort amusing for some reason.

My grandfather strode slowly forward, gently pulling his wife from me and embracing her in a hug. I smiled at the sight, because it really was the sweetest I'd seen all week.

Terra's POV:

I narrowed my eyes at my target, hoping it would improve my aim. I wasn't good at archery, unlike my elven friends. I, like Faelwen and Katie, preferred hand to hand combat. I let my arrow fly, missing the target by a millimetre.

I swore, feeling around in my quiver for another arrow. By the looks of it, it was about midnight and I could only just make out the target in the dark, and the soft glow of the house lights behind me. This was still and early night for Zackary...Zane.

I turned, looking back towards the house, well, I was told it was more a mansion...not that I knew what that meant, but apparently, it was a big deal.

From here, I could see the light on in Zane's room, a shadow passed across it, a woman being pushed roughly to the bed. I turned away. I knew what was going to happen. It was the same thing that had been happening for the past week. Thankfully, Damian made sure my chambers were at the opposite end of the floor.

Zane reminded me a lot of Orophin: Strong, commanding and full of love that he insisted on sharing with as many as he could...as often as he could. Not that I could talk without being a hypocrite. The sweet and innocent act was exactly that, a face I put on in front of my mother, father and in public.

But there was almost no point. The entire elven world knew of my reputation. I was the foreign delicacy for those sick of the same old thing.

Elleths as a general rule were tall and petite, flat chested and skinny, well, at least compared to my human curves. My chest measurement never failed to give the poor seamstress a heart attack! Mother tried to hide my figure, making me look more elven than human. My dresses were constantly too tight and restrictive.

Elves came to me, looking for a good time, and I sure gave them one. Can you really blame me? I was raised around Orophin, Rumil and Haldir, not to mention Elladan and Elrohir. Rumil was my best friend, always had been, always will be.

Mother didn't like him, but that was part of why I liked him so much. He treated me as an equal, took me drinking and made me feel like one of the men. I was always picking up bad habits from him, much to the disgust of the other women. My punishment was to be a messenger for the life rest of my life.

I wasn't stupid. I could see the way he looked at me. It was the same look Hal got when he watched Fae. He watched me always. Sometimes, as I rode through the forest, on my way to deliver yet another message, I would see him, watching me in silence.

In truth, it was quite scary, especially when there were others around, but that was my best friend, take him or leave him. I quickly took in my new surroundings. I'd zoned out for a minute and now found myself standing in the hallway of the house. The sudden light change hurt my eyes, but I forced myself to ignore it.

I sigh, hauling myself slowly up the stairs. Apparently, practice was over for the night. I cast a quick glance at the 'clock' on the landing. Apparently a clock was how these humans told the time. Quite inefficient if you ask me, but apparently, my opinion didn't count.

I turned off the stairs into the corridor that held our bedrooms and a few bathrooms, quite intent to have a quick bath before going to bed. The bathroom door creaked eerily open, revealing the blackness within.

Baths here were quite different to baths back home. Here, the water was supplied already hot straight to the bath from the ground. All you had to do was turn a little handle, quite clever really. I turned the handle and dropped a small ball into the rising water.

The ball immediately began to fizz, turning the steaming water a beautiful blue. Apparently it was called a 'bath bomb'. I didn't really see the point of it, but why not enjoy it while I had it? I slowly disarmed myself before starting on my lacy dress.

When I first arrived here, I'd only had the dress I had been living in for a month and one of my old...um...friends tunics he had left in my chambers, for a night shirt.

Zane and Damian had been kind enough to offer to buy me clothes, but I had declined, asking instead for material. My dresses were nowhere near as good as Ceildë's creations, but they would do. I let out a sigh of relief as my dress came away, allowing circulation and air back into my body.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me against a muscular body while his lips and tongue assaulted my neck, his teeth occasionally biting into my shoulder. I let out a small moan of pleasure, allowing myself to knot my hands into his hair.

There wasn't much of it to hang on to, especially when you were used to elven hair, but it was just enough to root myself in. The lips at my neck twisted into a cold smile, sending goose bumps down my back.

Without warning, I was thrown roughly to the hard, tiled floor, my head making a sickening thud. My vision began to grow blurry around the edges as unconsciousness presented itself. I bit my lip, holding back the curses and the tears the pain brought. If I could handle Rumil, I could handle whoever this was.

My vision slowly returned and I got the first look at my new friend. Zane lay on top of me, his eyes glinting with lust. His hungry lips took control of mine, his tongue ruling mine in the battle of dominance. His teeth bit hard into my bottom lip, drawing blood and causing me to moan slightly. But that only egged him on.

He quickly pulled his shirt over his head while keeping my waist trapped between his thighs. I sighed impatiently as he caught it slightly on his chin as he attempted to remove the garment, deliberately teasing me. My hands flew to the rescue, ripping the shirt to shreds.

Zane smiled down at me, his pants hitting the bathroom door with a thud. I closed my eyes and laid back, waiting for the high. Unfortunately, it never came. I felt Zane being dragged roughly to his feet and heard the crunch as a heavy fist collided with his jaw.

"How dare you!" I heard Zane's indignant voice crying out, though the sound seemed somewhat broken, awkward and painful. I looked slowly up into the warm eyes of Damian and saw something I was quite sure I had never seen before in eyes directed at me: concern. Genuine concern for my safety, my wellbeing and my future. For the first time in my whole seventeen years, I felt ashamed of myself and my lifestyle.

I looked down, feeling real guilt for the time. I quickly gathered my dress and hurried back to my room. I threw my dress to the floor, quickly gathering my night shirt and sliding into the safety of my warm bed. For a moment I just lay there, staring out the dark window.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I heard Damian's angry voice in the hall way. I flinched, snuggling deeper into my pillow. "She's a human being, not your toy!"

"This is my house, and I shall do as I please!" Zane sounded more angry than usual, if that was even possible. Suddenly, Zane's voice dropped to a harsh whisper, almost too quiet for me to hear. Thank the Valar for training! "She has something that we need Damian: their trust. She knows the old forest like back of her hand. She can tell us how to win this war!"

I gasped, smothering the noise with the pillow. They expected me to betray my friends? Well, they'd better think again.

"Well then why don't we just ask her? There has to be a better way than this!" I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't like where this was going. Torture was never out of the question.

"Do you really think she'll just tell us? They may have screwed her over, but they're still the only family she's ever known. We have to break her down, convince her that she's safe with us and make her feel loved."

"And you think the way to do that is raping her on the bathroom floor?" I heard the slap of Zane's hand as it hit Damian's face, making me flinch. I was unprotected in here. Both Zane and Damian had the size advantage and all my weapons still lay on the bathroom counter. I couldn't get out through the door, they would see me, and I knew for a fact that I would not survive the jump from my window.

I was trapped, and had to rely on the mercy of my captor, an idea I was not too fond of.

"That's how I'm playing this, Damian. And if you don't like it, you can leave. It's you or me. Choose!" At that moment, a door creaked open, and soft feet could be heard in the hallway.

"Zane?" A petite female voice chimed. My best guess was she was the lady I had seen in the window earlier. "Is everything all right?" From the sound of her voice, she had only heard the raised voice, and luckily not understood what the conversation was about.

"That depends on his answer." I could feel the tension from where I lay, the silence dense with it. Damian was obviously thinking hard. Through clenched teeth he gave his answer:

"Me!" He wasn't happy about it, that much I got, but we both knew Zane would always win. I don't know what had happed between these two, but it was obvious Zane was in charge, and Damian always willingly followed.

"Don't disappoint me Damian. This has to be done now..." The woman must still be standing there from the sound of the conversation, as Zane was trying to speak in riddles. Yeah, we all knew he was failing miserably. "If I can't trust you to do this, how can I trust you with anything? Can I count on you?"

"You can't be serious! Right now?" Damian sounded as though he probably would have punched Zane...again, had there not been a lady present.

"Can I count on you?" Zane's words were laced with poison strong enough to bring down an Oliphant, and cold enough to freeze Arnor. Every inch of my skin was covered with goose bumps, and believe me, I sure was glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that.

"Yes." Damian's voice could barely be heard from where I lay, sinking from its harsh, exasperated tine to a quiet and defeated.

"Zane?" The woman chirped up again, her voice full of fear. "What's going on?"

"Business. Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over." The girl giggled, making me fight the urge to gag. I don't know what men saw in women like her.

"Zane!" She scolded playfully. "You know perfectly well business is strictly for daylight hours. So, you boys can finish the conversation later. In the mean time Zane, I'm taking you back to bed and punishing you severely for breaking curfew!"

Zane laughed a deep, rumbling, chesty laugh, his only redeeming feature...apart from his gorgeous good looks! Not that I liked him, I just, couldn't help but notice.

"Awww, busted again! I won't see you for a while Damian, I get the feeling I'm grounded." There was a slight paused. "Make sure you do it now Damian. Remember, I'll be checking in the morning!"

"She's probably already asleep!"

"Well then, give her something nice to wake up to!" A door slammed and I lay in the dark, awaiting my visitor. My door slowly creaked open, revealing Damian standing gloomily in the hall. I waved, smiling at him enthusiastically, playing as dumb as I could.

Damian let out a short sigh, coming to sit by my side on the bed. His deep, chocolate brown eyes burrowed deep into my icy blue one, and I felt as if my soul was bared before him. To him I was an open book, and that scared me. There was only one other person who had ever made me feel like that...Katie.

I gasped, finally realising what was going on. Damian could do it to, the same as Katie! How could that be possible? If I was right, it wasn't safe here anymore. I pulled back slightly, trying to keep from eye contact. Damian caught my face between both his hands, forcing me to look him in the eye.

Suddenly everything made sense. This was Zane kept him around; friendship had nothing to do with it. Did he know? About what he could do? About me? Was he on my side? The look on his face was full of pain and regret, his voice breaking with the threat of tears.

"I'm sorry!" Suddenly, he was on top of me, pinning me to the bed with his weight. His lips furiously attacked mine, bruising and drawing blood. His hands tugged at my hair, pulling it painfully from my scalp.

Never had this felt so wrong in my whole life. What was my problem with him? He was good looking enough, muscular, smart, sweet. So why couldn't I enjoy this? Well, to put it simply, HE wasn't into this. This was just business for him, no pleasure.

That cut a little. For the first time in my life, a guy didn't want to sleep with me. I set my face into a hard, determined grin, pulling him closer to me. This would be the best night of his life if it killed me.

Sunlight poured through my open window, gently stirring me from sleep. Damian lay partially on top of me, his arm wrapped possessively around my waist and a goofy smile on his face.

My room, well, the less said about it the better. Everywhere, furniture was turned over, clothing and jewellery strewn over the floor and bed clothes lying about in scattered heaps. Zane stood in the open doorway, giving me a sly smile that made my heart skip a beat. No. I willed myself to stop blushing, instead focusing on the floor in front of me which had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world.

Zane chuckled, making my blush deepen. I bit my lip. This was just getting pathetic.

"Rough night?" Zane chuckled, the elvish seeming harsh to my ears after a night of common. I nodded, slowly gathering my robe and pushing my way to the bathroom. "That's all I get? No details?"

I shot Zane a glare and continued to the bathroom, now more intent on retrieving my dagger collection and using Zane as target practice, than my previous aim of a bath. Zane followed me, trying to shoot me puppy dog eyes.

"If you really want to be helpful, make me breakfast." I slammed the door in Zane's face, smiling as I head the thud and complaint as the door smacked Zane in the nose, hopefully drawing blood.

Just a tip: I'm not a morning person!

The smell of bacon and eggs greeted me as I made my way down the stairs to the dining room and kitchen. Zane stood by the stove, cooking eggs. The girl from last night stood behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist and her face burrowed into his shoulder blades.

She was tiny, only about dwarf height and very skinny, her bones sticking out on odd and awkward angles. Her hair was a white blonde that put elves to shame, though the roots were a deep chocolate brown. It looked thoroughly un-natural and unattractive.

The girl turned and stared at me for a second, her face set with confusion and her eyes showing clear disapproval of my attire. Apparently dresses weren't often worn these days, and from her attire, that was obvious.

The girl wore pants that came all of about an inch, possibly two down her thigh, coupled with a tight-fitting sleeveless top, covering only her breasts and leaving her stomach bare.

"What are YOU looking at?" I snapped, storming past her and being quite sure knock her roughly as I made my way to the coffee pot. "Idiot!" I muttered sourly under my breath. My whole life I'd been stared at and poked fun at because I was different, often insulted and assaulted by jealous suitors. Over time, men had come to accept me as an equal. But women? Most treated me like a animal. I was well and truly sick of it.

Zane laughed, and it was a beautiful sound. "Now, now Terra. Play nice!" I shot Zane a quick 'You've got to be kidding me' glance making him laugh. I blushed, burying my face in my coffee mug. I could feel the girl's glare on my back, but I refused to feel intimidated in my own home.

I stopped for a second, quite aware of that thought and how wrong it felt. This would never be my home. My home was in Lorien. I was only here for one reason; to stop a war. One day, I would have to kill both of these men. This was no time to get personal.

I grabbed my plate and coffee, making sure to ram her shoulder as I stormed into the lounge room. I would eat alone this morning.

"What the hell is you problem?" Her angry voice screamed after me, but I took no notice. I don't understand English…Remember? Zane sighed. "Who does she think she is?"

"Daughter of the Lady of Light." Zane muttered to himself. "Her name's Terra. She was kicked out by her family. We found her in the gutter." There was a shocked pause. I pressed myself closer to the wall separating us, hoping that I might get a better sound.

"Well, why is she still here? And what is her problem with me?" She sounded like a pissed off elleth. Trust me, I'd met a lot in my life.

"She's Damian's girl." I chocked slightly on my cup of coffee, trying desperately not to cough. But even so, I couldn't stop the small squeak that had somehow managed to escape my lips. "And as for her problem...my best guess would have to be your clothes...she's not used these clothes. Where she comes from nightdresses go from the chin, to the wrists and then right down to the ankles."

I held back my indignant snort. That was a lie! Fae had a gorgeous silk night dress that had only thin straps connecting it to her body, with the material stopping just above the knee and a split running up the length of her thigh. It drove Hal wild!

"...right...well, I'm going to put on something she might find more appropriate before I end up with a broken shoulder!" I smiled evilly, turning back to my now cold breakfast. Thank the Valar for Chainmail!

**Hey y'all! I'm so sorry this took so long but between assignments, homework and lack of inspiration, I don't think I really stood a fighting chance! I really hope you liked this chappie! I thought you needed a little more insight to Terra. If you guys have any ideas for this ficy or any others I would love to hear them. You can leave me a PM or drop me an email at . That way we can have a proper chat. Also, be sure to check out my Percy Jackson/Maximum Ride cross over, which should be posted by the holidays.**

**Thanks again.**

**Luv ya,**

**Lost-xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox**


	11. Regret Tonight

**Chapter 11- Regret Tonight- Damian's POV:**

**WARRNING: Possible M rating in some parts of this and later chapters. You have been told, I'm no longer responsible!**

I woke amongst a scramble of empty sheets, the room looking similar to that of a bomb site. I'd seen a fair few in my time, most of them by my own hands. This? This was Terra's mess. She liked putting on a show, and she was good at it.

Zane stood in the doorway, smirking. I sat up, running a hand through my hair. "Not one word Zane. Just...don't!"

"Oh come on! You can't tell me you didn't enjoy that!" I looked around the floor, desperately searching for my boxers. I wouldn't let him see my face. If he did he'd know. He always knew. "Well fine, don't tell me! ... I heard enough last night to satisfy me."

I sighed pinching the bridge of my nose, desperate for a subject change, a distraction...anything really, just so long as the attention wasn't on my sex life. I felt so guilty. I was using Terra, and I couldn't help but feel like this was all my fault.

I was the reason she was here. Why didn't I just ignore her? Why couldn't she just have been another homeless woman on the street? Why did I care? I knew for a fact I didn't love her as Zane made me pretend to... but I did love her.

Maybe my definition of love was screwed up. Was love to want to spend the rest of your life together? Was love just the want of sex? I didn't think so. Love, by my definition, was to care about somebody enough that you wouldn't want to see them get hurt or make a mistake. Love was the want to protect those you felt closest to, to the point of risking your own life.

Under that definition, I did love Terra, as though she were my sister...but, by that same definition...I also loved Zane. Now, don't get me wrong, I'd give my right arm to save him...but sometimes...he was a lot more trouble than he was worth!

"Enough about me...lets' talk about you!" Zane put his hand to his hart, raising is eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Why Damian, I had no idea you felt this way!" I rolled my eyes, wrapping the closest sheet around my waist as makeshift towel.

"How's your master plan coming along?" I wandered slowly about the room, looking for my clothes, trying desperately to avoid Zane's glance.

"The invitations are sent, the band and caterers booked and the bait set. All that's left is for them to show up!"

"How can you be sure they'll show?" I don't know why I was so worried about this. Maybe it was Katie. I'd searched for her for so long...the thought of her dying by my hands was almost too much to bear. But it had to be done. She wasn't my sister anymore...she'd stopped being that when she stopped being human. This new Katie would do whatever it took to get the job done...I had to do this...for the good of thousands. Zane smiled evilly.

"Because we have the one bait they can't refuse!"

**Katie's POV:**

I opened my eyes to the feeling of soft, morning light on my cheek. I was in the infirmary...again, lying on the very edge of my single bed. The rest was taken up by Legolas and Artemis, each claiming a rough half.

I smiled, rolling lightly off the bed and hauling myself into the nearby armchair with great effort. My leg remained a throbbing reminder of the day before...a day I wish I could forget. When I got my hands on those spiders, they'd wish they'd never been born!

I was half a day's ride as the horse runs...these people really had screwed my head up! Anyway, that's not the point. I could see the king's halls on the horizon, and the promise of home, my family and my own bed was a sweet one. Sure I had enjoyed seeing Fae, but...I missed my little girl.

Legolas sent two of the girls from my class out to escort me home. There had been recent spider sightings along the edge of our little town. All the elves were on high alert, the guards doubled and swords and spears sharpened to perfection.

We were about to break cover of the trees, entering the training ground...but the spiders had other plans. One guard was killed instantly, throwing herself between me and spider. The look in her eyes as she was dragged away haunting, still terrified...even in death.

I'd seen plenty of dead bodies in my time. But I dare you, try looking into the eyes of someone who had sacrificed their life to save you, so scared, yet so confident that they were doing the right thing. If that doesn't haunt you, touch you...really make you think about life...there's something wrong with you.

Terror over took her partner and she was dragged away screaming before either of us could do anything. My horse bolted back into the heart of the forest, no doubt to its doom. I was almost taken with them. I turned my back on a spider I thought was dead. I would never make that mistake again. My leg had suffered severe damage...or, so I'd heard, coupled with a head trauma and some cuts and bruises.

I looked thoughtfully out the window, thinking of the events of the past few weeks. Terra disappearing, the spider attack...but one thing stood out above all else. It wasn't so much something Galadriel said as what I saw in her eyes. She guarded them well in my company, but she wasn't as smart as she thought she was.

She knew a war was coming, a war between men and elves that would decide the fates of all. That was why Terra had been sent away; hopefully taking out the ringleaders before any real harm could be done. Galadriel had also let something else slip... something she was desperate to keep secret.

No one really knew to what extent I was an elf, or if I was still a human deep down inside. But after 5000 years... everyone just started assuming I was like them. Galadriel knew differently. When an elf was slain, they then went on to the halls of Mandos, where they would be held before eventually being allowed to return.

It was a comforting thought that if anything should happen to my family, I would one day see them again...I only wish they could have the same comfort. If I died...I died. That was it. All over red rover! Done like a dinner! The end! I would never return! I'd already had my second chance, and I would take the fate that Ilúvatar had planned for me.

That was why Galadriel was trying so hard to stop this war...she was trying to protect me. I didn't need protecting! Why did everybody suddenly think I couldn't look after myself? I'm a big girl now... I don't need people looking over my should and holding my hand every step of the way. What hurt even more though was her reasoning.

Galadriel never did anything for me...to her, I was just an inconvenience. She only cared about grandchildren by blood. The only reason she kept me around was because of fear. Fear of rejection from her family for willing letting someone they considered a sibling or daughter die...fear of the force of Mirkwood. Lorien was strong, but she couldn't be sure that they would back her in a fight against her March Warden.

It cut to know that someone dear to me didn't care if I lived or died...but I was used to it.

"Mummy!" Artemis threw herself into my arms, winding me and bringing me back to the real world. "Mummy I missed you so much and we were all so worried about you and the spiders tried to eat us but Daddy chased them away and..."

I smiled, holding up a hand to silence her. "One at a time! I'm not going anywhere. You can tell me everything later, but right now...isn't there someone waiting for you in the library?" Artemis' excitement quickly turned to a childish pout.

"But Mummy! I don't want to go to school today!" I shot her a disbelieving look. Artemis spent every second that she wasn't outside training or playing with friends in the library, her head bent over some dusty old book, soaking up all it had to offer her.

Artemis sighed, quickly kissing my check and hurrying out of the infirmary door, nearly knocking over another patient in her mad sprint. I chuckled under my breath, shooting an apologetic look at the poor elf that had almost been knocked over.

"You shouldn't be up." Legolas smiled up at me from his position on the bed, his tousled hair causing a small snort of laughter to escape my lips.

"Well, there was no room for me in it with you two taking up the best part!" Legolas smiled sheepishly, offering me a hand. I took it, allowing myself to be dragged carefully back onto the bed. There we lay face to face, our fingers intertwined and our lips brushing against each other's now and again.

"You gave us a hell of a fright, you know?" Legolas' voice broke the comfortable silence, leaving an awkward pause in its place. "There was...a moment there...we ...we didn't think you were going to wake up." I took Legolas' face between both my hands, forcing him to look me dead in the eye.

"Legolas, you don't have to worry about me. Trust me, I'm one tough cookie...and I have too much to live for to let it all slip away." I paused, letting my words sink in. Legolas smiled and locked his lips with mine, carefully knotting a hand in my blood matted hair. I pulled away slightly, looking him in the eye.

"And the rest of it. I know that wasn't the only thing bothering you." Legolas sighed and rolled onto his back, avoiding my gaze.

"It's...not important. You don't need to worry about it." I raised an eyebrow, hoping he could feel my disapproving stare.

"If it's not important, then won't hurt to tell me. Legolas, by not telling me, it makes me think I need to worry!" I leaned closer so my breath tickled the tips of his ears, making them turn a lovely shade of pink. "Please?"

Legolas sighed, turning back to face me. "I had a fight with father. Are you happy now?" He may have seemed fine with it to the untrained eye, but I saw how much it pained him. His father was extremely tough on him; he always had to be perfect... the best at everything.

To Thranduil, everything was a test that determined whether or not you could have power. Legolas understood that he was next in line to the throne of Mirkwood, and the thought of all that power and responsibility scared him... not that he'd ever admit that.

He desired nothing more than his father's acceptance, but he knew that was a close to impossible dream.

"About?" I pushed him for information. I could have just looked and found out myself, but over the years, you learnt to respect other people's privacy. Legolas paused, waging an internal war.

"You. He says that you're too wild, that you should be chained to the halls to do women's work and leave war to the males." I snorted. Fat chance! Legolas chuckled. "I told him you'd say that! But that is not the problem. He thought you were going to die...and that got him thinking about my duty."

"As willing and capable as Artemis is...he will never allow a woman to take the throne." Legolas sounded as outraged as I felt. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Legolas...you know I can't... Artemis was a miracle and it still almost killed me!" I felt myself tearing up. I'd done so much work over the years to gain equal rights for women, but I guess some traditions could not be overturned in a day by one person. This rule was far older than me...far older even than Thranduil.

This rule dated back to the first age, and Thranduil would make sure it was upheld.

"Don't worry. I'll sort it. He'll just have to accept it or find a new heir...and well all know he's spent too long training me to be the perfect king to find or produce another heir." I chuckled...I was bad influence on that boy!

"Um...sorry to interrupt, but my mum wants to see you." Legolas and I both turned to the doorway, spotting a very happy Jess and Elladan leaning against the doorframe, Jessica's hands folded over her swollen stomach and Elladan's arm on her waist.

I smiled. They looked like a family already. Only Elladan's eyes gave him away. He was tired, he was stressed, he was scared...and if I knew my brother, which beyond reason I claimed I did, he would very soon excuse himself and go in search of a stiff drink.

I sat up with great effort, every bone in my body, though mostly my right leg, ached. I flopped back down.

"Can I have an hour?"

I walked...well, walked was probably too optimistic an approach...it was more of a hobble. I hobbled into the hall and found Tywein in deep council with the King. I bowed respectfully, trying not to let the murderous glint show in my eyes.

"Tywein, you called?" Tywein's eyes were troubled and her face set in a serious scowl. In her hands, she fingered a scrap of blood soaked paper, the gold ink of the writing glittering as she turned it in the dim light.

"We found this note pinned to the tunic of a young woman who was entrusted with the protection of these borders. She was held a metre off the ground...impaled on her own spear into the trunk of an Ent. If it weren't for the damn thing bellowing, we probably wouldn't have found her another few hours." I bowed my head.

Could this week get any worse?

"_Of course it could!" _A voice I hadn't heard for a very long time answered.

"_Aragorn! It's been a while. Where did you go?" _I wanted to hug him. That's how bad my week was. I wanted to hug a figment of my own imagination. How do you hug a person who only really exists in your mind.

I felt Aragorn's mouth set into a hard line, his eyebrows arched.

"_I don't do hugs!" _I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud. Given what was currently going on around me, now was not the time to be laughing. _"Now tune back in. This is important!"_

Tywein stood straight in front of me now, holding the note in my face.

"It's addressed to you." I blinked, slowly reaching for the note. Tywein pulled in back slightly and began pacing around me like a vulture at feeding time.

"Is it not your job to train these women? How was she able to be impaled to a tree without any other guards being alerted?" I could see where this was going. She was going to ask me how long this girl had been trained and blame my teaching skills. She was going to make this all my fault.

I gulped and gripped Legolas' hand tighter.

"Yes, it is." Tywein smiled forcefully at me, her eyes burning with a fire. I flinched under her gaze. This wasn't my fault...and who did she think she was to try and blame it on me.

"Her name was Tuarwen. Did you teach her?" I internally cursed. She had been training with me for only a year now...but it was long enough that she should have been able to at least call for help.

"Yes, I did. She was a good student... Very good with a sword." Tywein raised an eyebrow.

"Then why was she so easily defeated. Why did she not call for help?" I paused. That was a good question, one I could only think of one answer for...but it wasn't going to look good.

"She was very cocky. She hated team work and liked being in charge. She probably thought she could handle it. And I said she was good with a sword. Didn't you say she was armed with a spear? It worst choice of weapon she could have possibly chosen. That is my best and final guess. Now, if you are done accusing me of something that was not my fault and insulting my battle skills and instincts, I want the note, as it is mine! If you wish to continue to waste your time on this...let's take it outside. I've kicked your ass before; I can and will do it again!"

Tywein sneered. "Not on that leg you wouldn't." She threw me the note, turning to talk to the king. I slowly opened the still damp, blood stained paper.

_Katherine,_

Not many people still called me Katherine, they had all just come to accept that I was Katie. I took a deep breath and continued.

_Katherine,_

_You and your people have three weeks to leave or there will be war. You are a danger to the community and if you resist we will kill you._

_Don't try anything stupid. We have a friend of yours. Does the name Terra ring a bell?_

_Do as we say or she will die... and then it will be your turn._

_P.S. – I never stopped loving you...and more than anything, this is payback for that night._

_-Zane _

I limped down the corridor towards my room. Legolas had not seen the note...and he never would...not as long as I lived and breathed. White flames shot up my leg, causing me to cry out in pain and frustration.

I threw myself down into the corner, curling all but my injured leg up into a little ball.

"Are you alright?" Elladan sat in the corner opposite me, his head buried in a tankard of ale and another three empty ones lying next to him. How I hadn't noticed him before was beyond me, but he defiantly looked like he'd been there for a while and had no intentions of moving anytime soon.

I nodded, moving closer to him so I could rest my head on his shoulder. The stench was almost unbearable, ale mixed with pipe weed. I gagged.

"Elladan?" He looked up to meet my eye, his own serious and brimming with tears. I moved my hand slowly toward the tankard, keeping his eyes locked on mine. My hand gripped the handle and I pulled it slowly back towards myself. "What's wrong?"

Elladan fell back against the wall, exhaustion taking him. "I'm drinking my troubles away." I sighed, rubbing my aching leg. I almost knew how he felt...to be so afraid of the future and the past that the only way to escape it was by burying your head in a mug of ale.

I'd done that one too many times before...and it had almost killed me. I placed a hand on Elladan's shoulder, bending my head to look deep into his eyes. "Elladan, you can't keep doing this. You need to stop before it's too late. I was where you were once... it ruined my life...or at least what was left of it. Please! You have so much to live for...don't throw it all away."

Elladan smiled up at me. "We elves are nowhere near as fragile as humans...I don't think it can do me much harm..." He paused, looking thoughtful. "It's just...I do not know what I am supposed to do."

"You're supposed to be next to her, holding her hand and telling her everything will be ok. That's all you're obliged to do. You don't need to worry about letting her or her child down. You just being there is more than she asked for, and if that is not enough for her...just...relax."

Elladan bit his lip, holding back the flood of tears I could see swimming in his eyes. "She expects me to act like a father...but how can I? I mean, look at me; Drunk and crying in a corner! I've probably slept with every elleth in all three elven kingdoms and insist on being an annoying little..."

"Elladan!" I interrupted, taking a swig of the ale in my hand. My eyes opened wide and I felt the burn in my mouth and throat burning as the liquid slid roughly down. I choked, leaning into Elladan's shoulder for support. "Firstly, what the hell is in this?"

Elladan grinned from ear to ear, clapping me over the back.

"It is my own special blend. The homebrews of Thranduil, Celeborn and father mixed with spiced wine and dwarf ale!" I shot him a disbelieving look. It was a wonder he was still conscious after almost four tankards of the stuff let alone making coherent sentences...then again...my brother had a very high tolerance to alcohol.

"Right... well, no more for you. Secondly, why are you so worried? Out of you and Jess I think that Jess has more reason to be worried than you." I grasped Elladan's hand, bringing my lips to his forehead. Elladan sighed, leaning into the base of my neck.

"I can't help but worry. You know me better than anyone Katie...even better than Elrohir...you know my reputation. Jess sure chose the worst role model possible for her child." Elladan gripped me closer, leaning deeper into my chest and knotting a hand in my hair.

Elladan looked up into my eyes; his own filled with tears and pure love. He held my gaze for a moment, before lunging forward, his lips capturing my own with deadly force. My mind froze and all logical thought turned to what had just happened. My body switched to autopilot, my lips meeting his with equal force and my hands using their position in his hair to pull him closer.

Elladan manoeuvred his way on top of me while still managing to assault my lips, his fingers pulling at the ties of my gown. My mind suddenly kicked into gear, struggling to regain control of my body. I gently pulled away, our laboured breathing mingling in the small space between us.

"Elladan?" I grabbed his chin, forcing him to hold my gaze. "Are you sure you've only had four of those?" I jerked my head at the empty tankards. "One would expect you would still have enough wit about you to see how this is wrong."

Elladan sighed, leaning back against the wall and running a hand through his now lose hair. It seems my grip was tighter than I'd thought. "I know. I'm...I'm sorry Katie. It's just...You are the best friend I have at the moment."

A door in the adjoining corridor creaked open. "Elladan?" Jessica's voice held a hint of panic though she sounded more as though she were speaking to herself. Elladan shot me a panicked look. All this time, Jess had used him as her rock and he couldn't bear the thought of her seeing him like this. I nodded, motioning for him to move around the other corner and out of sight.

Elladan shot me a grateful smile, ducking silently out of sight. "Jess?" I slurred my words, picking up the still half full tankard at my side. Me collapsing in a corridor would raise questions, me drunk in a corridor was explainable and believable enough to work.

Jess rounded the corner, almost falling over me. "Katie? What the hell...are you drunk?" I smiled childishly, concentrating on my feet. "Oh dear lord!"

"What? My leg hurts and found the best medication...the stuff they give you in the infirmary does NOTHING!" I smiled inwardly at my babble. I wasn't a half bad actress. Jess sighed.

"Wait here." She turned to leave before thinking better of it, instead, turning to scoop the tankard from my hand before hurrying down the corridor. Once she was out of earshot, I signalled for Elladan, a look of amusement plastered over his face.

"You are such a bad drunk." Elladan laughed, punching me playfully in the arm. I rubbed the spot and glared.

"You owe big time brother. Thranduil's going to kick my sorry ass for this...and one his rants is defiantly not something I want to face sober. You have three hours, now go!"

"I do owe you! Thank you little sister." He leaned down to kiss my check, his lips hovering above my own for a fraction of a second before pulling away and racing down the corridor. I flopped back against the wall, trying to ignore the throbbing in my head as it hit the stone. The things that boy got me into: The drinking competition with the dwarf lords, letting Elladan and Elrohir try and shoot an apple from on top of my head – It wouldn't have bothered me usually, Elladan and Elrohir are both great shots...but drunk? That's a whole new matter completely- , my short lived addiction to hallucinogenic mushrooms.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. Thranduil would have my head for this, and it wasn't even my fault. The king was already disapproving of me, this may just be enough to push him over the edge. Then what? Would I be killed? Banished? Imprisoned? I could not say, but I knew, it would be painful.

The sound of hurried footsteps down the corridor got my attention, my instincts pushing me back against the wall, ready to face whatever came next. I closed my eyes, silently praying to Ilúvatar. The footsteps halted and I could feel the disapproving glare burning my skin.

"Thank you Jessica, just...can we keep this quiet?" I cracked open one eye, just wide enough to catch a glimpse of the man standing in front of me. A door slammed shut, making me flinch and a very familiar, welcome laughter rumbled through the hall. "Get up, we're late!"

I smiled and grabbed Legolas' arm, painfully hauling myself to my feet.

Tywein paced around the confines or the hall, the king watching her intently. Ceildë sat beside him, looking at something only she could see and muttering and flinching occasionally. I can't believe I'd been dragged all the way here for this. An hour later and still no one had spoken a word.

I tapped my foot absentmindedly, earning me a glare from the king. I quickly stoped, instead focusing on a small crack in the floor.

"We must stop this war." Tywein suddenly stated, making everyone on the room jump. "We cannot allow this war to happen. We have not the strength to withhold them."

"Mirkwood alone cannot withhold them, but we have our allies." Thranduil's eyes glinted with the lust for battle that would never be satisfied. I stood, using Legolas' shoulder as a support.

"My lord, you are not listening to your advisor. We have allies, yes, but think of how many will answer the call. The hobbits? They are not so stupid. They would not come if lined the road with food. They wish only to live in peace and that is where they will stay. The dwarves? They would be willing indeed, too willing in fact. We cannot house the whole of Moria! But in any case, many a dwarf has not seen sky or open ground for centuries and the journey here is long. Some will not risk it and those that do will arrive too few and too late. The elves? They would come, I know it in my heart, though not willingly would they fight, only as a last resort would they draw their swords, but all of this will take time...time I fear we do not have."

Thranduil glared at me, almost daring me to flinch. I stood straighter, raising my chin indignantly. Legolas sighed, gripping my hand tighter, reminding me that I had to play this carefully. "Be silent! You speak with your heart and not your head."

My eyebrow shot up and I snorted in a most unladylike fashion, causing Tywein to shoot me a murderous glare. It was really at this point I should have sat down, I could have saved myself a world of pain, but my ego was more than slightly bruised and like any stupid, arrogant person, I could not damage it further by admitting defeat.

"My heart has no authority on this matter, though if I might be allowed to speak it, it sees much darker things at work here than any of us suspect. I know Zane and Damian. They are cunning and influential. They have the power to summon a strength far greater than we, and if we attack now, as I know Tywein shall suggest, we shall only show that we are a threat and their forces will grow. If war must come of this then yes, let us be ready, but if can make peace, why shouldn't we?"

Legolas moved his arm to my waist and held it in a crushing grip, though what this was in aid of only he knew, and I would not break my staring competition with Thranduil to find out.

"It is not your decision to make! I am king, and I will not be spoken to thus by a woman!" My jaw dropped, and I saw red. I had spent so long fighting for equal rights for women, so they could be soldiers or whatever else they wanted to do with their lives, but Thranduil had never accepted that. To him, women would always be below him, even if it was his own wife.

"And I will not be spoken to thus by a _man_! Fine Thranduil, do whatever you think best, but no matter the outcome, it is on _you_! It is _your_ fault if this fails, it is _your _fault if our innocent die! I will _not_ have this blamed on me as you have done with all your other mistakes! I have warned you, and I will not be held responsible because our _king_ is a STUCK UP PRAT WITH HIS HEAD UP HIS ARSE WHO CANNOT BE BOTHERED TO LISTEN TO REASON!"

I stormed towards the door as best I could while my leg struggled to support me. I just couldn't take him anymore. I got it from my mum. We were the type of people who bottled everything, remembered everything and then one tiny thing pushed us over the edge we snapped in massive way. I stopped, my hand on the door handle, very aware of the eyes focused on me and the stunned silence that almost seemed to echo around the room. I turned back to Thranduil. Much of the anger had faded from my face, replaced by a look of hatred.

"You may not like me, but my aim in life is not to be like by everyone and it is certainly not to please you. Oh, and you can count us _women _out as your allies. If you don't need us then go ahead and prove it! But I promise you, before the end of this war, you will need us, and you will come crawling back, begging on your hands and knees. That I know, and that is a promise I'm prepared to bet my life on! Above all else, I can't wait to laugh in your face and see the look in your eyes when you finally admit you're wrong."

I turned and threw open the door, storming out into the hallway, and making sure the door gave a satisfying slam.

**Hey ya'll, sorry about the holdup but my teachers enjoy torturing their students with endless essays! Well, go Katie if you ask me! REVIEW! PLEASE! I'm failing Drama for you guys, a couple of second of your time is all I ask! Remember if you have any questions or ideas you can drop me an email at . Thanks so much for reading and I really hope you liked it! =D**

**Luv ya'll!**

**Lostypoo!**


	12. A Cunning Plan

**Chapter 12- A Cunning Plan- Legolas' POV:**

"Why?" That was the only thing I could think to say right now. Katie had a nasty habit of losing her temper and causing trouble for both of us. This time, she'd really outdone herself. She had somehow managed to get both of us, plus all of her soldiers in my father's black book.

Katie sat on our bed, a book lying open on her lap. She sighed, throwing the book away and avoiding my gaze.

"I don't know. It keeps life interesting I guess." I raised an eyebrow, making her shift uncomfortably, pulling at the hem of her gown. "It's just how I was raised. My mother taught me lots of bad habits, and the one that seems to get me into the most trouble is standing up for myself. When I feel threatened or attacked... I can't help it. It's just my natural instincts."

I sighed, sitting on the bed next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Katie buried her face into my chest, and if it had not have been her, I would have been certain she was crying. Katie always said she had concrete tear ducts...not that I knew what that meant... but apparently it made her unable to cry.

"You need not worry, my father needed to hear that... and I think deep down he knows it. He is certainly not impressed by your behaviour and insists that you be punished, but I will protect you. My father is not stupid enough to lose an heir to save his pride."

Katie smiled, kissing the bare skin at the base of my neck. "Well, was I right? Does Tywein plan to attack?" Katie looked up at me, her big eyes set in a determined glare as she remembered the scene in the hall.

"Yes. Damian and Zane are planning a party. Tywein thinks she may be able to get us inside." Katie shot me a horrified look.

"You cannot be serious! Zane and Damian are both paranoid men, haunted by their experiences of war. They will have armed security at every entrance and patrolling the grounds. Even if we can get inside, which I doubt we could without being spotted and thrown out, as soon as we draw our weapons, we'll have more guns pointed at us than we can count... well, more than we can count before we die. Zane doesn't take prisoners...and he's not afraid to kill or die to get what he wants."

"We'll be wearing masks, Katie." She looked annoyed and turned away, biting her lip close to the point of drawing blood, trying to hold back the rant that was to come. I chuckled under my breath, making her glare focus on me.

"It doesn't matter if we wear masks or not! They will recognise us and kill us! And more than that, why does the king listen to her? His problem is women, yet a woman is his advisor. She betrayed us...yet he trusts her so. Why?"

I leaned down to kiss her, my lips lightly playing over her own. "That I cannot answer. Not even my father knows what goes on in that mind of his."

**Azara's POV:**

I quietly donned an elvish cloak, carefully concealing my jeans and T-shirt and slipping into the crowd of silent, elvish soldiers. Thranduil had them working overtime. I couldn't stay here much longer...everyone was so serious it scared me. Too many times today I had almost got myself killed. It wasn't my fault! I had ADHD!

I had to get away from this world. Just for an hour. If I had to listen to anymore of Tywein's insane war strategies, I would kill her myself. That was why I was leaving. I just needed a little bit of reality to keep me from going insane.

The soldiers made a sudden turn, making me stumble, giving myself away. I froze, internally cursing my clumsiness. I was not like the other women of my kind. They were tall, graceful, insanely skinny and extremely strong.

My mother had only lived to see me through 5 years of my life...after that she was murdered. She'd never loved me...not like she loved my brother. To her, I was an inconvenience, a problem child she was constantly trying to tame.

But I didn't want to be tamed. I was always too much like my father. After she died, Paul, who at the time was only ten, took over as my guardian, and I was left to run wild. Paul treated me as an equal and respected my decisions.

I was thrown suddenly from the world of order that imprisoned me, to being free, allowed to run wild and without a care. If only the others had been so lucky. I know it sounds harsh, but...the truth hurts.

I had never cried for my mother...but my father was a different story. He was my idol, teaching me what was truly right and wrong... not what our people tried to pass as right and wrong. He was a brilliant leader and an even better father.

All the others had grown up in a scheduled and sheltered life, forced to push their bodies to insane limits, starved and sold as if they were property. My parent's death, sad as it was, was the best thing that ever happened to me...because it meant I would die a free and happy woman, not sold to the highest bidder.

I felt a hand clap me roughly on the shoulder, making me sway under the force. I buried my face deeper into the hood of my cloak, hoping she wouldn't recognise me.

"Are you new?" the soldier who had approached me was a young woman, appearing to be close to my age, but the reality was quite different. She had to have been at least a thousand years old.

I nodded, hoping she would realise I didn't want the attention. She smiled kindly and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"I can cover your shift tonight if you want. The king would not notice if we were one guard short tonight." I froze, overwhelmed by her kindness. But I had to leave...and if I didn't leave now, I would never get past the guards.

"Thank you, it is very kind, but I'm afraid I must accompany you." I leaned in closer, my lips almost pressed to her ear. "I cannot tell you much, but I may tell you that you must let me pass. I have been sent by the King's advisor, the lady Tywein. My errand is that of secrecy, please, I beg you help me."

The soldiers eyes opened wide with shock, making her look very much like a dear in the headlights. She nodded slowly.

"What is it I must do?" Her voice was quiet, her face set in a permanent look of shock. I smiled slightly. Thank Ilúvatar I was a very convincing liar.

"Speak to no one of this errand. I must pass the border twice, and I must be guaranteed a safe and secret passage." She nodded, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me through the trees.

I wandered the unfamiliar streets of the town, ignoring the strange looks I attracted. I took another bite out of my honey flavoured ice cream, careful not to drip any on my clothes. On a nearby bench sat a young woman, her head hung low and her silent tears pooling in her lap.

"_You could help her, Azara... we could help her. You know what you must do. Why do you hesitate?" _The sickly voice of my employer, Harrison, echoed throughout my head. Harrison made me earn the right to live, but to do that, I had to condemn others to death. I've heard of selling your soul to the devil, but that didn't even begin to cover this.

We could solve any problem, and people thought it was worth the price. Oh how wrong they were! There was no knowing what you would be asked to do, or when. And if you tried to back out, the consequences were dire.

The necklace lying against my breast burned with anticipation, its touch scorching my skin. The necklace looked like it came from a cereal packet...but that was the point. From the outside, it looked plain, ordinary, cheap and harmless. It would not be ex-rayed and no one would go to the trouble of stealing it... but to those who knew of its power, it was one of the deadliest weapons in existence, and it was up against some pretty stiff competition.

The pendant was a large circle, engraved with elvish and the symbols of Rohan, Gondor, Rivendell, Lorien, Mirkwood, Moria and the Shire, all circling around the centre piece; a clawed hand, tightly grasping a sapphire, my birthstone.

"_If you will not do it, I will!" _Harrison's voice hissed once more inside my head. The necklace was the centre piece for the ritual required to make exchanges and also a way of allowing Harrison and I to communicate. It was our way of ensuring payment. The ritual was painful, long and made me sick to my stomach...but it wasn't like I had much of a choice.

"_What if I refuse?" _ I already knew what my answer would be, but I had to ask anyway. It was the only way I would be able to convince myself to go through with this. I had to make myself believe there was no other way. That was the only way I could live with myself.

"_Ungrateful child!_" Harrison snapped, making me flinch and drop my ice cream. _"I let you live and this is how you repay me? If that is not reason enough to do as I say, then consider this. It was only too easy for me to kill off your parents and I still have your cousins and brother here. Do you really want to be the reason they die? Do you really want to cause the end of your line?"_

I sucked in a breath, detaching myself from any and all feeling, walking slowly towards the woman.

"Miss, are you ok?" The woman shied away from my voice, burying herself into the bench. "Please, let me help you."

"NO ONE CAN HELP ME!" The woman screamed, a hand outstretched to slap me.

"I'm not so sure about that." I sat beside her, looking warmly into her terrified eyes. "I work for a company that is designed to help people." The woman shot me a cynical look, her eyes regarding me carefully. "We offer a different kind of help, help of the magical kind."

"I'm desperate, not an idiot!" The woman, whose name-tag identified her as Carol, stood, glaring at me before storming off down the street. Well, that was that. I'd done my part. I did not have the power to make her accept my offer...only Katie did.

"_You're not trying hard enough! Do not forget about your family. All it takes is one word from me and they die." _Harrison's papery voice scratched inside my head. I sighed, hauling myself off the bench and after Carol. I caught up to her just around the corner.

"Please, wait! I promise you I'm not lying." Carol kept walking, her head hung low, trying to avoid my gaze. "How can I prove to you I'm not lying? Just tell me how I can convince you and I promise I will do it."

Carol paused, the cogs turning in her mind. Slowly she turned. "Anything I ask?" The street lights glittered in her eyes, making them impossible to read.

"Yes." I hated to say it. I knew that my power was limited; I only could only hope she would ask for something small. I would draw her in, and then tell her the price. "I will do something small to convince you...that is all I am permitted to do, without promise of payment." Carol's eyes almost popped out of her head as my words sunk in, and the hopelessness that fell back on her shoulders seemed to age her close to a decade.

"I have no money to pay you." She slowly turned, looking defeated.

"I never said the payment was money." She stopped, her back straightening slightly, her mind coming to horrible conclusions about what I might ask her to do. Unfortunately, none of them were as horrid as what would really await her. "All we ask of you is a promise that when we ask you for a favour, you will do all within your power to help us as we helped you. The favour will be no more than you can easily provide, so you need not worry."

Carol turned her face set in a determined grin. "Fine, but I want proof first. Make it snow and I'll believe you." In all actual fact, it was a good test. It never snowed in this part of Australia...especially in the middle of summer. It was also very hard to fake unless it had been set up prior to the event.

I close my eyes. I was no expert on the weather spells, but hopefully I would be able to make it convincing. My lips played lightly over the familiar words my brother had made me practice a thousand times. "_Tolo si gloss. Tolo si fëa en nim." _The air about us began to chill, sending chills up my spine and arms. _"Tolo si gloss." _The sky darkened and a slight breeze formed, making the silvery flakes swirl into a mini blizzard.

I sighed. Weather was always a tricky one. It had a mind of its own and didn't like being told what to do. Carol stared at me with wide, frightened eyes, clearly at a loss for words. I smiled. "Wednesday night, I'll be at your place at 10. Make sure you're alone." My voice was as cold and lifeless as the snow falling around us. I turned, the snow vanishing as I did.

"But wait! I haven't told you where I live!" I turned and smiled sweetly.

"You don't need to. I already know." And with that I stepped out of the darkness of the ally, back into the light of the main street. The sun would be setting soon, and I still had a long way to go. I picked up the pace, my sneakers squeaking as they hit the concrete.

I closed my eyes, allowing the air to flow through my hair and clothes. For the first time in my life, I felt truly free. I should've known it couldn't last. With a thump, I collided with a well muscled chest, casing us both to crash to the ground.

I looked slowly up, meeting the eyes of the poor man beneath me. I quickly jumped to my feet, helping him off the ground. "I...I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you ok?" The man chuckled softly at my babble, taking my hand and shaking it firmly.

"Well, it's not every day pretty lady knocks me off my feet." My eyes went wide and my blush deepened; only making the man before me laugh harder. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it sweetheart."

"I feel so terrible. If there's anything I can do..." The man smiled.

"Well, my soccer team is down a man...you any good?" I blushed, looking down.

"I'm ok...I mean I haven't played in years, but...Hi, I'm Azara… Azara Stevens." I held out my hand, blushing and looking down. I was babbling and we both knew it.

"I'm Travis O'Brian"

Katie's POV:

I hurried around the infirmary, ripping bandages and dipping them in the herb infused water. There had been a slight...accident at training. It was just a couple of stray arrows finding the wrong mark...nothing we couldn't handle.

"Katie, can we talk?" The familiar voice of my brother floated across the room. I turned to see him standing in the door way, a fake smile plastered on his face. I tensed, turning my back on him. He was still my brother and I trusted him with my life... trusting him with this however, was another matter.

My brother had a reputation for this sort of behaviour, but I'd always suspected that people were blowing it out of proportions. But now? Now I had experienced firsthand what they meant. Sure, he was drunk, I could forgive him for that, but I would never forgive myself.

"You're going to get me into trouble, brother." I murmured, burying my face into my work. "Thranduil is already punishing me; do you really wish to add to my suffering?"

Elladan laughed, moving closer to where I stood. "Now dear sister, why would you assume that I'm going to get you into trouble?" His voice was teasing, dancing the boarder of flirting. The other elleths had also noticed the change in Elladan, and were now giving us both odd looks.

I turned angrily, grabbing my brother by the hand and dragging him into the hallway. Once we were out of earshot, I threw my brother against the wall, drawing a dagger from the folds of my skirt.

"God damn it Elladan! What the hell do you want? You're going to get me killed!" Elladan looked taken aback by my outburst, his eyes meeting mine sadly. I lowered my dagger and sighed with defeat. "I'm sorry, Elladan. I've had too much coffee and too little sleep. Thranduil has me working double guard shifts plus two shifts a day in the infirmary! I swear he's injuring people just to keep me busy."

I sighed, sliding my back down the wall and letting my head fall between my knees. "What exactly was it that you wanted, Elladan? I don't have time to waste."

Elladan moved to the wall across from me, looking at me with pity. "Can we...talk? About what happened the other day?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I had known this conversation was coming, how could it not? But it still touched a nerve. "There is nothing to talk about." Elladan opened his mouth to protest, but I quickly cut him off. "No, Elladan. There is nothing to talk about. Just drop it before this turns into an argument. I don't have the energy for it. Not today."

"Katie, I kissed you!" Elladan raised his voice ever so slightly, moving closer to me so he could rest a hand on my shoulder.

"You were drunk!" I hissed, my eyes desperately searching for anyone who might have overheard us.

"You kissed me back, Katie! And you were completely sober!" Elladan's other hand moved to my shoulder, shaking me as he spoke.

"Would you keep your voice down? You're going to get us both in shit if you don't drop this! Elladan please, just forget it ever happened." I motioned to stand, but Elladan pushed me straight back down.

"I can't forget it, Katie. I feel so guilty. I can't look Jess in the eye anymore. I have to tell her." Elladan's eyes were brimming with tears as he looked into mine. I froze, envisioning my world crumbling down around me.

"No. No. No, Elladan you can't! Please! You can't do that to me! You wouldn't. Elladan, it would only ruin our lives, it would not make the guilt go away." I clung desperately to Elladan's arm, my breath coming in short, shallow gasps as panic set in. "I...I can make it go away. I can make it never of happened. Please!"

Elladan sighed in defeat.

"Do it!"

**Azara's POV:**

I sprinted down the field, my curls streaming out behind me and the ball bouncing between my feet. With only thirty seconds to go, the two teams were tied on 19 all. Three men stepped out to stop my advance, their enormous mass serving as an effective blockade.

"ZARA!" I threw my eyes to the right, my gazing locking on Travis, easily matching my speed just outside the obstacle I faced. I quickly kicked the ball across the field, smiling with delight as it collided squarely with Travis's boot.

The human barricade seemed almost too shocked to react, their movements slow and inefficient, giving me the impression they were not the brains of this team...more like guard dogs than anything else. Travis weaved skilfully through the throng of players, making it quickly to the goal circle.

The goalkeeper ran out to meet him, knowing that if he did nothing Travis would score. I moved quickly into position and waited. It was surprising just how much waiting there was to do when time was running out. Ten seconds on the clock. This was it. It was now or never.

Travis looked up, seeing his way blocked.

"TRAVIS!" I had positioned myself exactly across the circle from him, and now I was the only option. Our team was scattered everywhere, but nowhere that mattered. If we wanted to score, I had to do. Travis realised this, nodding in acknowledgment and sending the all spiralling in the air towards me. Five seconds on the clock.

I took a step back, drawing a deep breath. There was no time for recovery if I missed this. Three seconds on the clock. I drew my foot back, leaning all my weight into it before throwing it around to connect with the ball, delivering it to the waiting goal net with ease.

My head hit the ground with an audible thud as I was crash tackled by Travis, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"You did it!" His voice was full of pride and his eyes held a new appreciation for me. For a moment, we both just lay there, him on top of me, breathing heavily and looking at one another. Travis slowly lent forward his eyes holding a new light. His lips played lightly over mine, so gently, so filled with fear of rejection that my heart melted inside my chest.

My lips softly responded, my lack of experience evident. Travis deepened the kiss, one hand knotting in my hair while the other cupped my face. The team, who were now standing behind us, watching with great interest let off a chorus of wolf whistle. I opened my eyes, blushing all the way to my roots. Travis didn't even seem to notice them, his lips still conquering mine.

Still kissing me, Travis lifted one hand and flipped his friends the finger, causing us all to erupt with laughter. Travis pulled away from me, winking, before helping me to my feet.

"Can I walk you home?"

Travis and I walked hand in hand down the road towards Mirkwood, both of us grinning from ear to ear. That's when the problem hit me. I couldn't take Travis to Mirkwood, Katie would kill me! Closely followed by Tywein and Thranduil...not to mention, Travis would think I was insane if I told him I lived in a forest.

I paused, pretending to be lost, while my mind quickly ran through the possibilities.

"Hey? Is everything alright?" Travis smiled down at me, oblivious to the dilemma I faced.

"Um... yeah, I'm fine. I'm actually just visiting from the States; I'm trying to remember my friends' address." I reached in my pocket for the small address book Tywein had given me, holding all the addresses I could possibly need for my stay.

Looking down the list, I saw only one in the direction we were already heading; Jessica and Damian's old house. I sighed. Just my luck! Knowing Zane, he'd probably wired the whole place to explode the second it was disturbed.

Travis and I kept down the road until at last the old red brick house hoed into view. Travis and I stopped by the gutter, shooting each other an awkward glance.

"Well, I guess this is it." I said, staring at my toes. Travis didn't say a word, instead, he simply smiled and handed me a scrap of paper with his number scrawled hastily in blunt pencil. I blushed, my heart skipping a beat as our hands met.

"I had a great time with you today, Azara. I don't know how much longer you're staying, but give me one more chance to see you, a proper date." I nodded hastily, knowing that words would only fail me here. Travis smiled, leaning in to gently kiss me.

I know cheesy to say this, but time stood still. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but to me, it felt like a lifetime. When we finally broke apart, Travis smiled his cocky smile. "I'll see you in." He nodded at the door. My heart sank. I'd been hoping not to have to go in at all, but now, I had no choice.

I strode confidently up to the door while Travis watched from the curb. I could only stare for a moment. From the road, this house looked like any other house, but as you got closer, you could just make out the faint blood splattering on the walls and floor and a few pieces of broken glass here and there. Zane's spell was failing.

I smiled, pretending to fish around in my pocket for a key. If Zane was losing his touch, maybe, just maybe, we stood a chance of defeating him. I placed one hand around the door knob, allowing the familiar tingling sensation to pass through me as the magic took hold.

"_Edro!" _I hissed, watching with delight as the door swung under my touch. I turned back to Travis and waved. "I'll call you!" And with that, I disappeared into the darkness of the house. Once I was sure I was out of sight, I sat down. I couldn't leave through the front door or Travis might see me, but I'd be arrested for breaking an entry should the neighbours see me leave through the back.

I could see only one option. I moved to stand in front of the hall mirror, slowly watching my facial features distort into that of a cat. I slowly shrunk, allowing my body to bend and arch into the new form. I jumped nimbly onto the small side table in front of the mirror and pawed my reflection happily.

Jumping back down, I walked confidently out of the back door, my head held high. They might charge a girl for breaking an entry...but no one would suspect the cat.

Terra's POV:

I sat at the dining room table between Zane and Damian, a litter of lose papers, phones and phone books scattered across the table, with the occasional invitation and gold pen.

Zane had decided we were having a party in our enormous ball room, something called "masquerade". Why? I don't know. I'd never really been a fan of parties thanks to Galadriel. All I was allowed to do was serve the men and sit next to her talking about the latest fashions. That was defiantly enough to deter anyone from parties.

"What about this one?" Zane's familiar elvish tongue brought me back to the present, forcing my eyes to focus on the image of paper he held in front of me. Drawn with a careful hand was a dress design unlike any I'd ever seen. The dress was sleeveless and the top covered with many small golden beads. From that billowed out an enormous black skirt with the occasional trail of gold flowing down. Had my mother of seen it, she would have had a heart attack!

"You are joking. Yes?" Zane shook his head, an evil grin stretching from ear to ear. "Zane! You know how much I hate parties. Must I go?" Zane again said nothing, merely nodding, his smile now reaching his eyes. It was extremely creepy! "Why? What use will I be to you? I cannot even speak common!"

"Zane?" Damian interrupted impatiently, glaring at us both. "Remind me again why we're doing this." I turned away, pretending to lose interest in a conversation I apparently didn't understand. Zane sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. It appeared he had explained this a great number of times.

"It will draw the elves into an attack that they will not be properly prepared for. They also can't try anything against us without everyone else seeing. Katie's powers of persuasion are impressive, but even she can't compel that many people to forget before someone manages to get the word out. I've also invited some very important people who you will convince to take our side in this war."

"And how do you propose I manage that?" Damian shot Zane a suspicious glare.

"You're more influential than you know Damian. Just you wait and see."

**Hey ya'll! I'm so sorry that it's taken so long for an update but things are a little crazy at the moment. I'll try and update more often but these things take a huge chunk of my time and I have exams coming up. The end of year holidays should be very productive. Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this and sorry for any mistakes. I've done my best but none of my editors can get to me as they are annoying and my email has locked me out. Also, **_**PLEASE STOP BY MY PROFILE AND VOTE ON MY POLL!**___**Thanks again. Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


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